"A family residing in north London seeks an extraordinary and experienced tutor to guide their smallest child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might easily overlook the term "first-steps" as just figurative language.
But, it may be the most significant element of this distinctive position posting, as it seeks to recruit a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of applications have since been submitted since the anonymous family posted their search for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the post has attracted interest throughout the news, with several questioning why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, stated that despite first doubt, he considered the concept "visionary", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he mentioned they understood the unusual character of their request, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already set in".
What exactly did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert replied. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He said the firstborn had adopted "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family explained to Adam they hoped to prevent this pattern to repeat itself with their new baby.
The strategy: To engage a English tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is rather osmotic," said the CEO.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will adopt the British traits they want to cultivate.
Adam explained the tutor had to be someone who studied at "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Money No Object
The family explained to the expert the chosen tutor should preferably also have understanding of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to achievement and open doors.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he notes.
However, despite all this instruction in "English culture", would the child adopt what is termed cultural leaning from the international family he is raised by regardless?
"Certainly", replied he. "The family know this may not work, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the education sector who express these doubts.
An education leader, head and founder of Blue Education, who supplies personal educators, commented that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
He noted that he had relocated from the Far East to the UK at the time of 7 years old, and had been educated understanding and living both cultures. He continued to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that an individual can act as a representation of Britishness, an individual who can somehow transplant the attributes of a English gentleman onto a one-year-old child, appears naive and unrealistic," he stated.
"In my experience, having a quintessentially English tutor from babyhood will will not automatically achieve the goal they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to experience many of the experiences they desire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, personal identity should not be imposed from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, English culture is something the expert thinks can be educated – and commercialized.
"I think the situation that the international society views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
