"A family residing in north London wants to find an exceptional and skilled educator to assist their most junior child on his early path to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might naturally skip the phrase "first-steps" as simple an expression.
However, it could be the most important aspect of this distinctive position posting, as it aims to hire a mentor for a one-year-old.
Many of responses have now been submitted since the unnamed family advertised their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has received notice throughout the news, with many asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, head and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their quest, said that notwithstanding initial doubt, he viewed the plan "visionary", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they understood the unconventional character of their request, and how early in age their son is.
But, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural influence had by then set in".
What exactly does the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert responded. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He said the firstborn had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family told the consultant they hoped to prevent this pattern to repeat itself with their new baby.
The intention: To engage a British tutor, who should speak with RP, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the learning at the start here is somewhat absorbed naturally," explained the CEO.
It's via this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will adopt the UK customs they wish to impart.
Adam said the tutor must be somebody who went to "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Money No Object
The family told Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to shape the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
More than that though, he stated the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son develop into a "English gentleman" will result in accomplishment and open doors.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he notes.
But, notwithstanding all this instruction in "Britishness", could the child pick up alleged cultural influence from the globally influenced family he resides with anyway?
"Yes", replied Adam. "The family understand this may not work, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the private teaching field who share these doubts.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who provides private tutors, commented that "the journey of embracing two identities, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
The expert noted that he had relocated from the Far East to the UK at the age of childhood, and had been raised understanding and practicing dual heritages. He went on to learn at Cambridge University.
"The notion that a single person can function as a living vessel of UK identity, an individual who can in some way impart the attributes of a English gentleman to a infant child, appears naive and unrealistic," he wrote.
"Based on my background, engaging a quintessentially British tutor from infancy will does not necessarily achieve the result they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and yet I have been fortunate enough to enjoy numerous of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, self-identity cannot be dictated from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, UK identity is something Adam thinks can be taught – and commercialized.
"I believe the situation that the world regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
