"A family residing in the northern part of London wants to find an exceptional and experienced tutor to assist their most junior child on his early path to turning into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might naturally overlook the term "first-steps" as just an expression.
However, it may be the most significant element of this unique job advert, as it aims to find a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of responses have since been sent in since the anonymous family posted their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the post has attracted interest in the press, with several questioning why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their quest, explained that in spite of early doubt, he found the idea "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they recognized the atypical aspect of their requirement, and how young their son is.
But, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had already set in".
What exactly does the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam replied. "How you eat, how you speak".
He explained the firstborn had picked up "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family told Adam they hoped to prevent the same situation to repeat itself with their infant.
The strategy: To engage a UK tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the learning at the outset here is somewhat acquired indirectly," said the CEO.
It's through this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will adopt the British traits they wish to instil.
Adam noted the tutor must be somebody who studied at "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator 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.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in riding, winter sports, the arts and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a wide range of passions.
Additionally though, he said the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son develop into a "British gentleman" will lead to success and create opportunities.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he notes.
Yet, in spite of all this instruction in "English culture", might the child absorb alleged cultural influence from the international family he lives with regardless?
"Yes", replied the CEO. "They understand this may not work, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who share similar doubts.
An education leader, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who supplies individual instructors, commented that "the development of embracing two identities, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
Peter noted that he had moved from China to the United Kingdom at the period of seven, and had been educated experiencing and living two backgrounds. He went on to study at Cambridge University.
"The idea that a single person can serve as a representation of UK identity, an individual who can in some way transplant the attributes of a UK sophisticate to a 12-month-old child, seems to me optimistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"Based on my background, having a distinctly English tutor from infancy will will not instantly achieve the goal they desire.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to experience several of the situations they desire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, self-identity can not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, UK identity is something the expert hopes can be taught – and commercialized.
"I believe the reality that the global community views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
