"A household based in North London seeks an extraordinary and qualified instructor to guide their youngest child on his early path to growing into an British gentleman."
When reading this post, you might easily overlook the wording "first-steps" as simple a turn of phrase.
However, it could be the crucial element of this unusual job advert, as it seeks to find a tutor for a infant.
Hundreds of submissions have now been received since the unidentified family posted their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the post has gained notice throughout the media, with many asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, chief executive of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their search, said that despite early doubt, he found the concept "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he noted they appreciated the atypical aspect of their demand, 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 older child was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already become established".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam replied. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the firstborn had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family told him they did not want this pattern to happen again with their younger child.
The intention: To hire a UK tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the education at the beginning here is rather absorbed naturally," stated the expert.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will adopt the British traits they aim to impart.
He said the tutor must be an individual who went to "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, skiing, the arts and music so as to shape the child in a diverse set of interests.
Additionally though, he said the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a range of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will result in achievement and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he comments.
However, notwithstanding all this instruction in "English culture", would the child absorb what is termed cultural leaning from the multicultural family he lives with in any case?
"Absolutely", said Adam. "The parents understand this may not work, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'we should try and let's go as early as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he explained.
Impractical
A number of in the education sector who share these reservations.
Another CEO, chief executive of an educational organization, who supplies personal educators, commented that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
He explained that he had moved from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the time of childhood, and had been brought up knowing and practicing dual heritages. He went on to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that an individual can act as a living vessel of Britishness, someone who can in some way transfer the attributes of a English gentleman upon a one-year-old child, appears idealistic and impractical," he stated.
"Based on my background, having a typically British tutor from infancy will not necessarily produce the outcome they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and however I have been lucky enough to experience numerous of the situations they hope for their son."
He added: "The truth is, personal identity can not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, UK identity is something the expert hopes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I think the situation that the international society holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
