"A household residing in the northern part of London seeks an extraordinary and qualified educator to assist their youngest child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might readily skip the wording "first-steps" as just a turn of phrase.
Yet, it could be the crucial element of this unusual job advert, as it attempts to hire a teacher for a one-year-old.
Numerous of responses have already been received since the unidentified family posted their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has attracted interest across the media, with many questioning why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their quest, said that in spite of early scepticism, he viewed the concept "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he noted they appreciated the atypical aspect of their request, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural influence had already taken hold".
What exactly does the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", he responded. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the elder child had adopted "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family informed him they hoped to prevent the same situation to repeat itself with their younger child.
The intention: To bring in a British tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the education at the outset here is kind of acquired indirectly," said the expert.
It's through this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will pick up the UK customs they want to cultivate.
The consultant said the tutor had to be someone who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in equestrian activities, skiing, the arts and musical activities so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
Furthermore though, he stated the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son grow into a "English gentleman" will lead to achievement and open doors.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he comments.
Yet, notwithstanding all this guidance in "Britishness", might the child adopt alleged cultural leaning from the international family he lives with regardless?
"Certainly", answered he. "The family understand this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'we should try and let's go as early as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he said.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the education sector who have similar reservations.
An education leader, head and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer individual instructors, wrote that "the development of becoming bicultural, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
He wrote that he had emigrated from Asia to the United Kingdom at the age of seven, and had been educated knowing and practicing dual heritages. He progressed to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that a single person can serve as a representation of UK identity, an individual who can in some way transfer the attributes of a British gentleman to a 12-month-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"From my perspective, engaging a quintessentially English tutor from early childhood will will not automatically achieve the result they desire.
"I did not have such a figure, and however I have been privileged enough to live numerous of the experiences they hope for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, personal identity cannot be dictated from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, UK identity is something the CEO thinks can be instructed – and sold.
"In my view the situation that the international society views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
