"A household residing in north London is looking for an exceptional and experienced tutor to guide their youngest child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might naturally overlook the term "first-steps" as mere a turn of phrase.
Yet, it might be the most important element of this unique position posting, as it seeks to recruit a mentor for a one-year-old.
Many of submissions have already been sent in since the unnamed family published their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the advert has received attention across the media, with many asking why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their search, stated that notwithstanding early scepticism, he considered the concept "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they understood the unconventional nature of their request, and how immature their son is.
But, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already set in".
What precisely did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", he replied. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the firstborn had adopted "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family explained to the consultant they hoped to prevent this pattern to happen again with their new baby.
The strategy: To bring in a UK tutor, who must speak with RP, to guide the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the learning at the outset here is kind of acquired indirectly," explained the CEO.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will adopt the UK customs they want to impart.
The consultant said the tutor must be an individual who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to the expert the selected educator should preferably also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, skiing, the arts and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a wide range of passions.
More than that though, he said the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son become a "British gentleman" will bring about accomplishment and open doors.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he adds.
Yet, despite all this instruction in "Britishness", could the child pick up what is termed cultural bias from the international family he is raised by anyway?
"Yes", replied he. "They understand this may not work, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'we should try and we should start as early as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the education sector who express similar reservations.
An education leader, chief executive of an educational organization, who provides private tutors, commented that "the journey of embracing two identities, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
The expert explained that he had relocated from Asia to the Britain at the time of 7 years old, and had been brought up understanding and embodying both cultures. He progressed to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that one individual can function as a embodiment of Britishness, an individual who can somehow impart the qualities of a English gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, appears idealistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"Based on my background, having a typically British tutor from infancy will not necessarily produce the result they hope for.
"I never had such a figure, and however I have been fortunate enough to live numerous of the situations they desire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, self-identity should not be imposed from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, Britishness is something the expert hopes can be instructed – and marketed.
"In my view the fact that the international society holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
