"Parents based in the northern part of London seeks an exceptional and qualified tutor to guide their youngest child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might readily skip the term "first-steps" as just an expression.
But, it could be the most important element of this unique position posting, as it seeks to find a teacher for a one-year-old.
Many of responses have already been received since the unnamed family advertised their search for the highly paid tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has received interest throughout the news, with many wondering why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, chief executive of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their search, explained that notwithstanding first skepticism, he considered the concept "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he said they appreciated the unusual character of their requirement, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural influence had by then set in".
But what did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam answered. "How you eat, how you speak".
He explained the firstborn had picked up "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family told Adam they wished to avoid history to recur with their younger child.
The intention: To hire a UK tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the education at the beginning here is somewhat osmotic," stated the expert.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will adopt the English characteristics they wish to instil.
The consultant explained the tutor needed to be an individual who went to "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in horse riding, winter sports, the arts and music so as to inspire the child in a wide range of passions.
Furthermore though, he said the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son grow into a "English gentleman" will lead to achievement and open doors.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he notes.
But, despite all this instruction in "Britishness", could the child adopt so-called cultural influence from the multicultural family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", replied he. "The parents know this may not work, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'we should try and let's go as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he said.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the education sector who have these reservations.
An education leader, head and founder of an educational organization, who supplies individual instructors, wrote that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
He noted that he had emigrated from the Far East to the UK at the period of seven, and had been raised experiencing and practicing two backgrounds. He progressed to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that one individual can act as a representation of English culture, someone who can in some way impart the characteristics of a British gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"In my experience, engaging a typically British tutor from infancy will does not necessarily produce the goal they want.
"I did not have such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to enjoy many of the situations they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, cultural identity cannot be dictated from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, English culture is something the CEO thinks can be instructed – and marketed.
"I think the fact that the global community holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
