"A household residing in north London seeks an exceptional and qualified tutor to support their most junior child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might readily skip the phrase "first-steps" as mere figurative language.
But, it could be the most important part of this unusual employment listing, as it aims to recruit a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of submissions have now been sent in since the unidentified family posted their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the advert has gained interest in the news, with several asking why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, explained that in spite of early scepticism, he considered the plan "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he said they appreciated the unconventional character of their demand, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had by then taken hold".
What precisely did the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert replied. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the older sibling had picked up "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family informed him they wished to avoid the same situation to recur with their new baby.
The intention: To bring in a UK tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the learning at the beginning here is somewhat absorbed naturally," said the CEO.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will pick up the UK customs they want to impart.
Adam noted the tutor had to be an individual who went to "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Money No Object
The family told Adam the chosen tutor should preferably also have knowledge of or passion in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a wide range of passions.
Furthermore though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son become a "UK sophisticate" will lead to achievement and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he adds.
However, notwithstanding all this guidance in "UK identity", might the child adopt so-called cultural bias from the globally influenced family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", said Adam. "The family understand this could fail, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as early as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the education sector who share these concerns.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who provides individual instructors, stated that "the development of embracing two identities, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
The expert noted that he had relocated from Asia to the UK at the period of childhood, and had been educated understanding and living dual heritages. He went on to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that an individual can act as a embodiment of UK identity, an individual who can somehow transfer the qualities of a UK sophisticate to a one-year-old child, seems to me optimistic and impractical," he wrote.
"In my experience, engaging a quintessentially English tutor from early childhood will does not necessarily achieve the goal they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and however I have been fortunate enough to enjoy numerous of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, personal identity cannot be forced from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, English culture is something the expert believes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"In my view the reality that the global community views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
