"Parents located in North London wants to find an exceptional and skilled tutor to assist their youngest child on his initial journey to turning into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might easily overlook the wording "first-steps" as just figurative language.
However, it might be the crucial part of this unusual position posting, as it seeks to recruit a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Many of responses have since been received since the anonymous family published their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the post has gained notice across the press, with numerous asking why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their search, stated that notwithstanding early skepticism, he viewed the concept "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he noted they understood the atypical character of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
But, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural influence had already taken hold".
But what did the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", he answered. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the older sibling had picked up "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family explained to him they wished to avoid history to happen again with their infant.
The intention: To engage a English tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to shape the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the learning at the outset here is kind of acquired indirectly," said Adam.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will acquire the British traits they aim to cultivate.
He said the tutor must be an individual who attended "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told the expert the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in horse riding, winter sports, creative fields and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son grow into a "English gentleman" will lead to achievement and provide access.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he comments.
But, notwithstanding all this guidance in "UK identity", would the child pick up so-called cultural leaning from the multicultural family he is raised by regardless?
"Yes", replied Adam. "They realize this could fail, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he explained.
Impractical
There are some in the private teaching field who have similar doubts.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who supplies individual instructors, commented that "the process of embracing two identities, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
He noted that he had relocated from China to the United Kingdom at the period of 7 years old, and had been raised experiencing and embodying dual heritages. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that an individual can act as a representation of English culture, someone who can possibly transfer the characteristics of a UK sophisticate to a one-year-old child, appears idealistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"Based on my background, having a quintessentially UK tutor from babyhood will does not instantly achieve the result they desire.
"I never had such a figure, and yet I have been fortunate enough to enjoy several of the situations they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, self-identity cannot be dictated from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the expert hopes can be taught – and marketed.
"In my view the fact that the global community holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
