"Parents based in north London is looking for an extraordinary and skilled tutor to assist their most junior child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might readily overlook the phrase "first-steps" as just figurative language.
However, it may be the most important aspect of this unique position posting, as it seeks to find a teacher for a one-year-old.
Numerous of responses have since been received since the unidentified family published their search for the highly paid tutor, who must be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has gained interest in the media, with numerous wondering why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their hunt, stated that notwithstanding early doubt, he found the plan "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he said they appreciated the atypical aspect of their request, and how early in age their son is.
However, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural bias had by then set in".
But what does the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam answered. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the older sibling had picked up "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family informed Adam they wished to avoid the same situation to happen again with their younger child.
The plan: To hire a UK tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the education at the start here is somewhat osmotic," explained the expert.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will adopt the UK customs they wish to instil.
Adam noted the tutor must be someone who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Money No Object
The family informed him the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in horse riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to shape the child in a wide range of passions.
More than that though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will result in accomplishment and provide access.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he notes.
Yet, in spite of all this guidance in "English culture", might the child pick up what is termed cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he resides with regardless?
"Certainly", said he. "The family know this might not succeed, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'we should try and we should start as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he stated.
Impractical
Several in the education sector who share similar concerns.
Peter Cui, chief executive of Blue Education, who provides individual instructors, commented that "the development of becoming bicultural, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
Peter noted that he had relocated from Asia to the Britain at the age of childhood, and had been brought up knowing and living both cultures. He progressed to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The notion that an individual can function as a embodiment of UK identity, a person who can in some way transfer the attributes of a UK sophisticate to a 12-month-old child, strikes me as optimistic and impractical," he stated.
"From my perspective, having a distinctly British tutor from infancy will does not automatically create the outcome they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to live many of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, cultural identity can not be dictated from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, UK identity is something Adam believes can be educated – and marketed.
"In my view the reality that the world regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
