"A household located in north London seeks an extraordinary and qualified tutor to guide their youngest child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might easily overlook the phrase "first-steps" as mere a turn of phrase.
However, it may be the most significant part of this unique employment listing, as it attempts to find a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of responses have already been submitted since the anonymous family published their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the post has attracted attention across the news, with many wondering why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their quest, stated that in spite of first scepticism, he found the plan "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he noted they appreciated the atypical character of their requirement, and how young their son is.
But, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had by then taken hold".
What precisely does the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert responded. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the elder child had picked up "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family told the consultant they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their younger child.
The plan: To bring in a British tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the education at the beginning here is kind of osmotic," explained the CEO.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will pick up the English characteristics they wish to cultivate.
The consultant noted the tutor had to be someone who went to "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Money No Object
The family informed the expert the chosen tutor should preferably also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and music so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of interests.
Additionally though, he stated the family desired the tutor to register the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son grow into a "English gentleman" will result in accomplishment and provide access.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he comments.
However, despite all this guidance in "English culture", might the child adopt so-called cultural influence from the international family he resides with anyway?
"Absolutely", replied he. "The parents know this may not work, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he said.
Impractical
There are some in the tutoring industry who share these doubts.
Another CEO, head and founder of Blue Education, who supplies individual instructors, stated that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
Peter wrote that he had relocated from Asia to the UK at the time of childhood, and had been raised knowing and living two backgrounds. He progressed to study at Cambridge University.
"The concept that a single person can act as a representation of English culture, a person who can somehow transfer the attributes of a English gentleman to a one-year-old child, appears optimistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"Based on my background, having a typically UK tutor from infancy will will not instantly create the result they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to live numerous of the experiences they hope for their son."
He added: "The reality is, personal identity cannot be imposed from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, English culture is something the expert thinks can be instructed – and marketed.
"I think the situation that the global community holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
