"Parents located in the northern part of London is looking for an exceptional and experienced instructor to support their most junior child on his early path to growing into an English gentleman."
When reading this post, you might naturally miss the term "first-steps" as simple a turn of phrase.
However, it could be the crucial element of this unique position posting, as it attempts to find a tutor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of applications have already been received since the unidentified family published their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the post has attracted attention throughout the media, with numerous questioning why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their hunt, said that in spite of early scepticism, he found the plan "visionary", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unconventional character of their request, and how early in age their son is.
But, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural influence had by then set in".
What exactly does the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert answered. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the elder child had picked up "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family told the consultant they hoped to prevent the same situation to happen again with their new baby.
The plan: To hire a English tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the education at the beginning here is rather acquired indirectly," explained Adam.
It's via this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will acquire the British traits they aim to cultivate.
The consultant noted the tutor had to be someone who studied at "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told the expert the selected educator should preferably also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and music so as to influence the child in a wide range of interests.
Additionally though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a range of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son grow into a "English gentleman" will bring about success and open doors.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he notes.
However, despite all this guidance in "UK identity", might the child pick up what is termed cultural bias from the international family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", said Adam. "The parents know this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'we should try and we should start as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the private teaching field who have these reservations.
An education leader, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who provides individual instructors, wrote that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
The expert noted that he had emigrated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the age of childhood, and had been raised knowing and living both cultures. He went on to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The idea that one individual can function as a living vessel of UK identity, an individual who can in some way transfer the attributes of a UK sophisticate onto a 12-month-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"In my experience, having a distinctly English tutor from early childhood will will not automatically achieve the goal they want.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to experience several of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, personal identity can not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Of course, English culture is something the expert hopes can be educated – and sold.
"In my view the situation that the global community regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
