"A family residing in the northern part of London seeks an exceptional and skilled tutor to support their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might easily skip the wording "first-steps" as just a turn of phrase.
Yet, it may be the crucial part of this distinctive job advert, as it attempts to recruit a tutor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of responses have since been sent in since the unnamed family published their search for the highly paid tutor, who must be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the post has received interest in the media, with several asking why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their hunt, explained that notwithstanding initial skepticism, he viewed the concept "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they understood the atypical nature of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
However, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already set in".
What exactly does the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", he answered. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He said the firstborn had picked up "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family informed the consultant they wished to avoid history to repeat itself with their new baby.
The strategy: To hire a English tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the development at the beginning here is kind of acquired indirectly," said Adam.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will acquire the English characteristics they aim to impart.
He noted the tutor must be somebody who studied at "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Money No Object
The family told the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, skiing, the arts and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of passions.
Furthermore though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son develop into a "British gentleman" will lead to achievement and open doors.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he comments.
But, in spite of all this tutelage in "English culture", could the child absorb alleged cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he lives with in any case?
"Certainly", answered he. "The parents know this may not work, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as early as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the education sector who have these reservations.
An education leader, head and founder of Blue Education, who also offer personal educators, wrote that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
The expert wrote that he had emigrated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the age of 7 years old, and had been educated understanding and living both cultures. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that an individual can serve as a representation of English culture, someone who can possibly transplant the attributes of a British gentleman to a one-year-old child, appears optimistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"From my perspective, having a distinctly English tutor from babyhood will will not automatically achieve the result they want.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and however I have been lucky enough to live numerous of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, self-identity should not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, Britishness is something the expert believes can be educated – and commercialized.
"In my view the fact that the world views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
