"A family based in North London is looking for an remarkable and experienced educator to guide their most junior child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might easily miss the wording "first-steps" as simple a turn of phrase.
But, it may be the crucial aspect of this unusual position posting, as it attempts to hire a tutor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of submissions have now been received since the anonymous family published their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the post has gained notice across the press, with several asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their search, explained that in spite of early skepticism, he found the plan "visionary", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he noted they appreciated the atypical character of their request, and how early in age their son is.
But, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already become established".
But what did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", he replied. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the firstborn had absorbed "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family informed him they did not want history to recur with their new baby.
The intention: To hire a UK tutor, who must speak with RP, to shape the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the education at the outset here is kind of absorbed naturally," said the CEO.
It's via this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will pick up the UK customs they aim to cultivate.
Adam noted the tutor must be someone who attended "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator must be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Money No Object
The family told him the successful candidate should preferably also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in horse riding, skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
Furthermore though, he said the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a range of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son develop into a "British gentleman" will result in achievement and create opportunities.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he comments.
Yet, despite all this guidance in "Britishness", could the child adopt what is termed cultural bias from the multicultural family he resides with anyway?
"Absolutely", answered the CEO. "The family know this could fail, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the private teaching field who share similar doubts.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer private tutors, wrote that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
The expert noted that he had relocated from Asia to the United Kingdom at the period of seven, and had been brought up understanding and practicing dual heritages. He continued to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that an individual can function as a representation of UK identity, an individual who can possibly transplant the qualities of a English gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, seems to me idealistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"In my experience, employing a quintessentially English tutor from early childhood will does not automatically produce the goal they want.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and yet I have been privileged enough to enjoy numerous of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, personal identity cannot be dictated from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, Britishness is something the CEO thinks can be taught – and commercialized.
"I think the reality that the world regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
