"A family residing in north London seeks an remarkable and skilled educator to guide their youngest child on his early path to growing into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might naturally skip the wording "first-steps" as just an expression.
Yet, it may be the crucial element of this unique position posting, as it attempts to recruit a teacher for a one-year-old.
Many of submissions have already been received since the anonymous family published their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the listing has received attention throughout the news, with several questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, head and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their quest, explained that in spite of initial scepticism, he found the concept "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he said they appreciated the unconventional aspect of their demand, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already become established".
What exactly does the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert replied. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the elder child had adopted "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family explained to the consultant they hoped to prevent history to repeat itself with their infant.
The plan: To bring in a UK tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the education at the start here is kind of absorbed naturally," stated the expert.
It's via this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will acquire the UK customs they want to cultivate.
Adam said the tutor needed to be somebody who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed him the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or passion in equestrian activities, winter sports, creative fields and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
More than that though, he said the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son become a "English gentleman" will bring about accomplishment and open doors.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he adds.
However, in spite of all this tutelage in "Britishness", might the child adopt alleged cultural bias from the globally influenced family he resides with anyway?
"Yes", answered he. "The family know this might not succeed, but they've just taken the view of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who share these concerns.
Another CEO, chief executive of an educational organization, who supplies private tutors, stated that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
The expert wrote that he had emigrated from the Far East to the UK at the time of 7 years old, and had been raised understanding and living both cultures. He went on to study at Cambridge University.
"The idea that an individual can function as a representation of Britishness, a person who can possibly transfer the qualities of a English gentleman onto a infant child, strikes me as optimistic and impractical," he stated.
"In my experience, engaging a distinctly English tutor from babyhood will will not automatically create the result they hope for.
"I never had such a tutor, and however I have been lucky enough to enjoy several of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He added: "The truth is, self-identity can not be forced from the outside; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, Britishness is something Adam believes can be instructed – and marketed.
"I believe the reality that the international society holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
