"A family located in North London is looking for an remarkable and skilled instructor to assist their smallest child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this post, you might easily miss the phrase "first-steps" as just a turn of phrase.
Yet, it could be the most significant part of this unique position posting, as it aims to find a mentor for a one-year-old.
Many of submissions have now been sent in since the unnamed family posted their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the advert has gained interest throughout the press, with many questioning why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their quest, explained that notwithstanding first doubt, he considered the concept "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he noted they recognized the unusual nature of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
However, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural influence had by then taken hold".
What exactly does the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert responded. "How you eat, how you speak".
He said the elder child had adopted "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family told the consultant they wished to avoid the same situation to recur with their new baby.
The plan: To engage a UK tutor, who should speak with RP, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the learning at the outset here is kind of acquired indirectly," stated the expert.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will acquire the English characteristics they aim to cultivate.
He noted the tutor needed to be an individual who attended "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed Adam the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of interests.
Furthermore though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son become a "UK sophisticate" will result in success and open doors.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he adds.
However, despite all this instruction in "Britishness", could the child absorb so-called cultural leaning from the international family he resides with regardless?
"Certainly", said he. "The parents understand this may not work, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'we should try and let's go as early as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he said.
Impractical
A number of in the education sector who have these doubts.
An education leader, head and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer personal educators, stated that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
He noted that he had emigrated from China to the UK at the age of 7 years old, and had been brought up experiencing and embodying dual heritages. He progressed to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that a single person can function as a living vessel of Britishness, an individual who can possibly impart the qualities of a British gentleman to a 12-month-old child, appears optimistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"In my experience, engaging a typically UK tutor from early childhood will not necessarily produce the result they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to enjoy numerous of the experiences they hope for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, cultural identity should not be forced from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, UK identity is something the CEO believes can be taught – and sold.
"I think the situation that the global community views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
