"Parents based in north London is looking for an extraordinary and skilled tutor to guide their most junior child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might naturally miss the term "first-steps" as simple a turn of phrase.
However, it could be the crucial part of this distinctive job advert, as it seeks to find a mentor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of responses have since been sent in since the unidentified family posted their request for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the post has received notice in the news, with numerous asking why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their search, explained that in spite of initial skepticism, he considered the idea "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they appreciated the unusual character of their demand, 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 held off until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already set in".
What precisely did the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", the expert answered. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the older sibling had absorbed "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family told him they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their younger child.
The intention: To hire a English tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the education at the outset here is somewhat acquired indirectly," said the CEO.
It's through this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will acquire the English characteristics they wish to instil.
Adam said the tutor had to be somebody who attended "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Money No Object
The family told Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
More than that though, he said the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to accomplishment and open doors.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he adds.
Yet, despite all this tutelage in "UK identity", might the child absorb alleged cultural influence from the international family he resides with anyway?
"Certainly", answered he. "The parents know this could fail, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'we should try and let's go as early as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the tutoring industry who express these reservations.
An education leader, head and founder of Blue Education, who provides individual instructors, stated that "the journey of embracing two identities, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
Peter wrote that he had relocated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the age of 7 years old, and had been educated experiencing and living two backgrounds. He progressed to study at Cambridge University.
"The notion that an individual can act as a representation of English culture, someone who can in some way impart the characteristics of a British gentleman upon a one-year-old child, seems to me idealistic and impractical," he stated.
"From my perspective, engaging a distinctly UK tutor from early childhood will will not necessarily produce the outcome they want.
"I never had such a tutor, and however I have been privileged enough to live many of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, cultural identity can not be forced from the outside; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, English culture is something the CEO hopes can be educated – and marketed.
"I believe the situation that the global community regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
