"A family based in north London is looking for an extraordinary and experienced instructor to support their most junior child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might naturally miss the phrase "first-steps" as simple an expression.
Yet, it may be the most important element of this distinctive job advert, as it seeks to find a tutor for a one-year-old.
Many of responses have already been received since the unidentified family published their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the advert has gained notice in the press, with several questioning why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their quest, stated that notwithstanding first doubt, he found the plan "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he noted they understood the atypical aspect of their requirement, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had already taken hold".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert responded. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He stated the elder child had absorbed "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family told the consultant they did not want this pattern to happen again with their infant.
The strategy: To bring in a British tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the development at the beginning here is rather absorbed naturally," stated the expert.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will pick up the British traits they aim to cultivate.
Adam explained the tutor had to be somebody who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed him the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or interest in riding, winter sports, creative fields and musical activities so as to influence the child in a diverse set of passions.
More than that though, he stated the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a range of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son become a "UK sophisticate" will lead to achievement and create opportunities.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he comments.
Yet, in spite of all this guidance in "English culture", would the child pick up what is termed cultural bias from the international family he lives with anyway?
"Certainly", answered the CEO. "The parents know this might not succeed, but they've just taken the view of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the education sector who have these reservations.
Another CEO, chief executive of a tutoring service, who also offer individual instructors, wrote that "the development of embracing two identities, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
The expert noted that he had moved from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the time of seven, and had been educated knowing and living two backgrounds. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that a single person can serve as a living vessel of UK identity, someone who can possibly transfer the characteristics of a British gentleman to a infant child, seems to me optimistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"In my experience, employing a typically British tutor from early childhood will does not instantly produce the result they desire.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to live numerous of the situations they desire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, personal identity can not be forced from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the CEO hopes can be educated – and marketed.
"I think the fact that the global community holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
