"A household located in north London wants to find an remarkable and qualified educator to assist their most junior child on his early path to becoming an English gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might naturally skip the phrase "first-steps" as mere an expression.
But, it might be the most important part of this unusual job advert, as it seeks to find a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of submissions have now been sent in since the unnamed family advertised their search for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the post has gained interest across the news, with many wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their quest, stated that notwithstanding initial doubt, he found the plan "visionary", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he said they recognized the atypical character of their requirement, and how young their son is.
But, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural influence had by then taken hold".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert answered. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He stated the elder child had absorbed "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family informed Adam they wished to avoid the same situation to recur with their younger child.
The plan: To engage a UK tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the start here is kind of osmotic," said the CEO.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will acquire the UK customs they want to instil.
He said the tutor needed to be somebody who went to "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator must be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or interest in riding, alpine skiing, the arts and music so as to influence the child in a wide range of interests.
Additionally though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son grow into a "English gentleman" will lead to success and provide access.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he notes.
But, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "UK identity", might the child pick up what is termed cultural influence from the international family he resides with anyway?
"Yes", answered the CEO. "The family realize this could fail, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Impractical
There are some in the education sector who express those doubts.
Another CEO, chief executive of Blue Education, who supplies personal educators, stated that "the development of embracing two identities, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
He noted that he had relocated from Asia to the UK at the time of seven, and had been raised experiencing and living two backgrounds. He went on to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that one individual can function as a embodiment of Britishness, a person who can in some way transfer the attributes of a British gentleman to a 12-month-old child, appears naive and impractical," he wrote.
"From my perspective, employing a distinctly English tutor from early childhood will will not necessarily achieve the result they desire.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and yet I have been privileged enough to experience many of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, personal identity should not be imposed from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, Britishness is something the CEO thinks can be educated – and sold.
"I think the fact that the world views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
