"A household based in north London seeks an remarkable and qualified tutor to support their youngest child on his early path to becoming an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might naturally overlook the term "first-steps" as just a turn of phrase.
Yet, it could be the most important part of this unique job advert, as it attempts to find a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Many of applications have since been received since the unnamed family published their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the listing has received interest in the press, with several questioning why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their quest, explained that despite early skepticism, he viewed the idea "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they understood the unconventional aspect of their requirement, and how young their son is.
But, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already become established".
But what did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam replied. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He said the elder child had absorbed "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family told him they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their younger child.
The plan: To bring in a UK tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the education at the start here is rather acquired indirectly," explained the expert.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will pick up the British traits they wish to cultivate.
Adam explained the tutor had to be an individual who attended "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Money No Object
The family told the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in riding, winter sports, creative fields and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a diverse set of interests.
Additionally though, he said the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son develop into a "English gentleman" will lead to achievement and open doors.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he notes.
However, notwithstanding all this instruction in "Britishness", could the child absorb so-called cultural influence from the international family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", replied the CEO. "They realize this may not work, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'we should try and let's go as soon as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the tutoring industry who express these concerns.
Another CEO, head and founder of Blue Education, who also offer individual instructors, stated that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
Peter wrote that he had relocated from China to the United Kingdom at the time of childhood, and had been brought up experiencing and living two backgrounds. He went on to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that a single person can function as a representation of English culture, a person who can possibly transplant the attributes of a English gentleman onto a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"From my perspective, engaging a typically English tutor from infancy will will not automatically create the result they hope for.
"I never had such a tutor, and however I have been fortunate enough to live several of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, cultural identity cannot be imposed from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, UK identity is something Adam hopes can be taught – and sold.
"I think the reality that the global community regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
