"A household based in North London wants to find an remarkable and qualified tutor to guide their youngest child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."
When reading this post, you might naturally overlook the phrase "first-steps" as mere an expression.
But, it may be the crucial element of this distinctive position posting, as it aims to recruit a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of applications have now been sent in since the anonymous family published their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the listing has received attention across the press, with numerous questioning why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their hunt, said that in spite of early doubt, he viewed the plan "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he noted they recognized the unusual nature of their demand, and how young their son is.
However, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural bias had by then become established".
What precisely does the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", he answered. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the elder child had picked up "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family informed him they wished to avoid history to happen again with their younger child.
The strategy: To hire a English tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the education at the beginning here is somewhat osmotic," said Adam.
It's through this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will acquire the British traits they aim to instil.
The consultant noted the tutor had to be someone who went to "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to him the selected educator should preferably also have understanding of or passion in horse riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a diverse set of passions.
Additionally though, he stated the family desired the tutor to register the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son grow into a "English gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and create opportunities.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he notes.
However, despite all this guidance in "English culture", might the child pick up what is termed cultural bias from the multicultural family he is raised by in any case?
"Absolutely", answered he. "The family realize this could fail, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the education sector who have those doubts.
Peter Cui, chief executive of a tutoring service, who provides personal educators, wrote that "the journey of embracing two identities, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
The expert wrote that he had moved from China to the UK at the age of childhood, and had been educated understanding and embodying two backgrounds. He went on to study at Cambridge University.
"The notion that an individual can act as a living vessel of English culture, an individual who can possibly impart the attributes of a English gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, appears optimistic and impractical," he stated.
"Based on my background, having a typically British tutor from babyhood will not necessarily create the outcome they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and yet I have been lucky enough to live numerous of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, self-identity cannot be imposed from the outside; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something Adam thinks can be educated – and sold.
"In my view the reality that the international society views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
