"Parents residing in north London seeks an exceptional and skilled educator to support their most junior child on his early path to turning into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might readily overlook the term "first-steps" as just an expression.
But, it could be the most significant aspect of this distinctive position posting, as it attempts to hire a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Many of applications have since been submitted since the anonymous family published their search for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the post has received interest in the media, with many wondering why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their quest, explained that despite first scepticism, he viewed the concept "visionary", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he said they understood the unconventional nature of their demand, and how immature their son is.
However, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural influence had already taken hold".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam answered. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family informed Adam they hoped to prevent history to repeat itself with their younger child.
The strategy: To hire a British tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the development at the start here is somewhat absorbed naturally," said the CEO.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will pick up the British traits they wish to instil.
The consultant explained the tutor needed to be somebody who studied at "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Money No Object
The family informed Adam the chosen tutor should preferably also have understanding of or passion in horse riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to influence the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Additionally though, he said the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son grow into a "British gentleman" will bring about achievement and open doors.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he adds.
Yet, despite all this instruction in "Britishness", might the child adopt so-called cultural influence from the multicultural family he resides with anyway?
"Absolutely", said the CEO. "The family know this might not succeed, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'we should try and we should start as soon as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who share similar doubts.
An education leader, head and founder of Blue Education, who supplies individual instructors, wrote that "the development of embracing two identities, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
The expert explained that he had moved from China to the Britain at the time of seven, and had been raised experiencing and practicing dual heritages. He went on to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can act as a representation of English culture, someone who can somehow transfer the attributes of a British gentleman onto a infant child, seems to me optimistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"From my perspective, engaging a typically UK tutor from infancy will not instantly create the outcome they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to enjoy many of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, cultural identity should not be dictated from the outside; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the expert thinks can be taught – and marketed.
"In my view the fact that the international society holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
