"A household located in the northern part of London seeks an extraordinary and skilled educator to support their smallest child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might readily skip the wording "first-steps" as just a turn of phrase.
Yet, it could be the most significant part of this unusual employment listing, as it seeks to recruit a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of applications have since been sent in since the unidentified family published their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has attracted interest in the press, with numerous wondering why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their search, stated that notwithstanding early skepticism, he considered the concept "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he said they appreciated the atypical aspect of their demand, and how immature their son is.
But, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural influence had already set in".
What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam answered. "How you eat, how you speak".
He explained the firstborn had picked up "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family told the consultant they did not want this pattern to repeat itself with their infant.
The plan: To engage a English tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to guide the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the development at the beginning here is rather osmotic," said Adam.
It's via this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will acquire the UK customs they wish to instil.
The consultant said the tutor must be somebody who studied at "the right kinds of schools – 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 doing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed Adam the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in equestrian activities, winter sports, creative fields and music so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Additionally though, he explained the family desired the tutor to register the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son develop into a "English gentleman" will lead to success and provide access.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he comments.
However, in spite of all this guidance in "Britishness", might the child adopt so-called cultural leaning from the multicultural family he is raised by anyway?
"Absolutely", answered the CEO. "The family understand this may not work, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the education sector who have these doubts.
Peter Cui, head and founder of an educational organization, who provides individual instructors, wrote that "the journey of embracing two identities, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
He noted that he had moved from Asia to the United Kingdom at the period of 7 years old, and had been raised experiencing and living dual heritages. He continued to learn at Cambridge University.
"The notion that an individual can act as a embodiment of Britishness, a person who can possibly transfer the attributes of a UK sophisticate upon a one-year-old child, strikes me as naive and unfeasible," he wrote.
"In my experience, engaging a typically UK tutor from infancy will not automatically create the result they want.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and however I have been privileged enough to experience many of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, cultural identity should not be forced from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, UK identity is something the CEO believes can be educated – and commercialized.
"I believe the fact that the international society regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
