"A household based in north London is looking for an remarkable and qualified instructor to support their youngest child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might readily skip the term "first-steps" as simple a turn of phrase.
However, it could be the most important part of this distinctive employment listing, as it attempts to find a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Many of responses have already been sent in since the unnamed family published their call for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the post has received attention across the news, with many questioning why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their search, stated that notwithstanding initial scepticism, he considered the idea "visionary", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they understood the unconventional nature of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
But, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had already set in".
What precisely did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", the expert answered. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He stated the older sibling had absorbed "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family told the consultant they hoped to prevent history to repeat itself with their new baby.
The intention: To hire a UK tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the learning at the beginning here is rather absorbed naturally," stated the CEO.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will acquire the UK customs they aim to instil.
Adam noted the tutor had to be an individual who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed Adam the successful candidate should preferably also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in riding, winter sports, creative fields and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
Additionally though, he said the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son become a "UK sophisticate" will bring about accomplishment and open doors.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he comments.
But, in spite of all this guidance in "UK identity", could the child adopt so-called cultural influence from the international family he lives with in any case?
"Yes", answered he. "They understand this may not work, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'we should try and we should start as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Impractical
A number of in the education sector who express similar reservations.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who supplies individual instructors, wrote that "the process of becoming bicultural, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
The expert wrote that he had moved from China to the Britain at the time of childhood, and had been educated understanding and embodying both cultures. He progressed to study at Cambridge University.
"The idea that one individual can function as a representation of English culture, someone who can somehow transfer the characteristics of a British gentleman upon a one-year-old child, seems to me idealistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"Based on my background, engaging a distinctly UK tutor from early childhood will not automatically produce the result they desire.
"I did not have such a figure, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to enjoy several of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, personal identity cannot be forced from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, English culture is something Adam hopes can be educated – and marketed.
"I think the fact that the international society holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
