"A family residing in North London wants to find an remarkable and qualified instructor to support their smallest child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might readily miss the wording "first-steps" as mere an expression.
But, it could be the most important part of this unique position posting, as it attempts to recruit a mentor for a infant.
Hundreds of responses have since been sent in since the unidentified family published their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the post has gained attention across the news, with several questioning why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their quest, said that despite early doubt, he considered the plan "visionary", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they recognized the atypical character of their request, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had already taken hold".
What precisely did the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", he answered. "How you eat, how you speak".
He said the elder child had picked up "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family told Adam they wished to avoid the same situation to repeat itself with their infant.
The intention: To bring in a English tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the development at the beginning here is rather absorbed naturally," said Adam.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will acquire the UK customs they want to impart.
Adam noted the tutor must be an individual who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Money No Object
The family informed him the chosen tutor should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and music so as to inspire the child in a wide range of passions.
Furthermore though, he said the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a range of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son develop into a "English gentleman" will bring about achievement and open doors.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he adds.
However, despite all this instruction in "UK identity", could the child absorb so-called cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", answered he. "The parents understand this could fail, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'we should try and let's go as early as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the private teaching field who share these concerns.
Another CEO, chief executive of a tutoring service, who also offer private tutors, wrote that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
Peter noted that he had moved from Asia to the UK at the age of seven, and had been raised experiencing and embodying both cultures. He continued to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that one individual can serve as a embodiment of English culture, someone who can somehow transplant the qualities of a English gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"Based on my background, having a typically UK tutor from infancy will does not automatically produce the result they want.
"I did not have such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to enjoy numerous of the situations they hope for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, self-identity should not be imposed from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, Britishness is something Adam hopes can be taught – and marketed.
"I believe the reality that the international society holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
