"Parents based in the northern part of London wants to find an remarkable and skilled tutor to support their youngest child on his early path to growing into an English gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might naturally skip the wording "first-steps" as simple figurative language.
However, it may be the most important element of this unusual position posting, as it aims to recruit a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Many of applications have already been received since the unidentified family published their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the post has received attention in the media, with numerous wondering why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their search, said that in spite of first doubt, he found the concept "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he noted they recognized the unconventional character of their demand, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already taken hold".
What exactly does the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam replied. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the older sibling had absorbed "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family explained to Adam they wished to avoid this pattern to recur with their new baby.
The strategy: To hire a British tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to guide the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the education at the start here is somewhat osmotic," said the CEO.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will pick up the British traits they wish to cultivate.
He noted the tutor had to be somebody who went to "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told him the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or passion in riding, skiing, the arts and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a wide range of hobbies.
More than that though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a range of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son become a "UK sophisticate" will result in achievement and provide access.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he adds.
But, despite all this guidance in "Britishness", could the child absorb so-called cultural bias from the multicultural family he is raised by regardless?
"Yes", replied he. "The parents know this could fail, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who share those concerns.
An education leader, chief executive of Blue Education, who supplies personal educators, commented that "the journey of embracing two identities, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
He wrote that he had moved from the Far East to the UK at the age of 7 years old, and had been brought up understanding and living dual heritages. He continued to learn at Cambridge University.
"The idea that a single person can serve as a embodiment of Britishness, an individual who can in some way transfer the attributes of a British gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"From my perspective, having a typically UK tutor from infancy will does not instantly achieve the outcome they want.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and yet I have been privileged enough to experience many of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He added: "The truth is, self-identity should not be forced from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, English culture is something the CEO thinks can be educated – and marketed.
"I think the situation that the global community views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
