"A household located in north London is looking for an exceptional and skilled instructor to guide their most junior child on his early path to becoming an British gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might naturally skip the term "first-steps" as just figurative language.
Yet, it might be the most significant aspect of this distinctive employment listing, as it aims to recruit a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of submissions have now been submitted since the anonymous family posted their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the listing has received notice across the media, with several questioning why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their quest, stated that notwithstanding first scepticism, he considered the idea "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he said they appreciated the atypical character of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
But, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already taken hold".
But what did the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", he responded. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the elder child had adopted "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family explained to Adam they did not want the same situation to repeat itself with their infant.
The plan: To hire a British tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the development at the outset here is somewhat osmotic," said the expert.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will acquire the British traits they wish to cultivate.
Adam explained the tutor needed to be someone who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told the expert the successful candidate should preferably also have knowledge of or passion in horse riding, skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a diverse set of interests.
Furthermore though, he said the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son become a "British gentleman" will lead to achievement and provide access.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he comments.
However, notwithstanding all this guidance in "English culture", could the child absorb alleged cultural leaning from the international family he is raised by in any case?
"Certainly", said Adam. "The family understand this may not work, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he said.
Impractical
Several in the private teaching field who express these doubts.
Peter Cui, chief executive of an educational organization, who also offer personal educators, commented that "the development of becoming bicultural, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
Peter wrote that he had emigrated from the Far East to the UK at the age of childhood, and had been raised experiencing and living dual heritages. He progressed to study at Cambridge University.
"The notion that a single person can function as a embodiment of English culture, an individual who can possibly impart the attributes of a British gentleman to a one-year-old child, strikes me as naive and unfeasible," he stated.
"From my perspective, employing a distinctly UK tutor from early childhood will will not instantly create the result they desire.
"I never had such a figure, and however I have been privileged enough to experience several of the experiences they hope for their son."
He added: "The truth is, cultural identity should not be forced from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, Britishness is something the expert hopes can be instructed – and sold.
"In my view the reality that the world views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
