"Parents residing in north London seeks an remarkable and skilled tutor to support their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might naturally skip the wording "first-steps" as simple figurative language.
However, it might be the most important element of this unique employment listing, as it seeks to find a teacher for a infant.
Hundreds of responses have already been submitted since the unnamed family posted their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the advert has gained notice throughout the media, with several questioning why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their hunt, stated that despite early skepticism, he found the concept "visionary", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he said they understood the unusual character of their request, and how immature their son is.
But, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural influence had by then taken hold".
But what did the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", Adam answered. "How you eat, how you speak".
He said the elder child had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family told him they wished to avoid this pattern to recur with their younger child.
The strategy: To hire a UK tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the learning at the start here is rather acquired indirectly," explained the CEO.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will pick up the English characteristics they want to cultivate.
The consultant said the tutor needed to be someone who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Money No Object
The family explained to the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or interest in riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a wide range of interests.
More than that though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of classes 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 view, assisting their son grow into a "British gentleman" will bring about achievement and create opportunities.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he comments.
However, despite all this guidance in "Britishness", might the child absorb so-called cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he lives with in any case?
"Certainly", said the CEO. "The family know this could fail, but they've just taken the view of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as soon as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the education sector who share similar concerns.
Peter Cui, chief executive of an educational organization, who also offer private tutors, commented that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
Peter noted that he had emigrated from China to the United Kingdom at the period of childhood, and had been brought up understanding and embodying dual heritages. He continued to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The idea that one individual can serve as a representation of UK identity, an individual who can somehow transfer the qualities of a British gentleman onto a one-year-old child, seems to me optimistic and impractical," he stated.
"Based on my background, engaging a distinctly British tutor from babyhood will does not necessarily produce the outcome they hope for.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and yet I have been lucky enough to enjoy many of the experiences they hope for their son."
He added: "The truth is, personal identity cannot be imposed from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, UK identity is something the CEO hopes can be instructed – and marketed.
"I think the situation that the world regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
