"Parents based in the northern part of London seeks an remarkable and skilled educator to assist their smallest child on his initial journey to turning into an British gentleman."
When reading this post, you might easily overlook the phrase "first-steps" as just an expression.
However, it could be the most significant aspect of this distinctive employment listing, as it aims to find a teacher for a one-year-old.
Many of responses have already been submitted since the unnamed family advertised their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the advert has attracted interest in the news, with many asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their hunt, stated that in spite of early skepticism, he viewed the concept "visionary", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they appreciated the atypical nature of their demand, and how young their son is.
However, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already taken hold".
What precisely does the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", he replied. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the elder child had absorbed "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family explained to Adam they wished to avoid this pattern to recur with their infant.
The strategy: To hire a UK tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the development at the outset here is somewhat osmotic," said the CEO.
It's through this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will adopt the English characteristics they wish to impart.
Adam noted the tutor had to be someone who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or interest in riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to shape the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he stated the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son become a "British gentleman" will lead to achievement and open doors.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he notes.
But, in spite of all this guidance in "UK identity", could the child adopt what is termed cultural leaning from the international family he resides with in any case?
"Yes", replied Adam. "The parents understand this might not succeed, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'we should try and let's go as soon as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the private teaching field who have these concerns.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies private tutors, commented that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
The expert explained that he had emigrated from Asia to the Britain at the time of childhood, and had been raised understanding and practicing both cultures. He went on to learn at Cambridge University.
"The notion that one individual can serve as a living vessel of English culture, a person who can possibly transfer the characteristics of a UK sophisticate to a one-year-old child, seems to me naive and unrealistic," he stated.
"Based on my background, employing a distinctly English tutor from infancy will will not automatically achieve the outcome they hope for.
"I never had such a figure, and yet I have been fortunate enough to enjoy several of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be dictated from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, UK identity is something the CEO believes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I think the fact that the global community holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
