"A household located in North London wants to find an extraordinary and skilled tutor to guide their most junior child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might naturally miss the wording "first-steps" as mere an expression.
Yet, it could be the most important element of this unusual position posting, as it aims to hire a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Many of submissions have now been submitted since the unidentified family advertised their search for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the listing has received notice across the media, with many questioning why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their quest, said that in spite of initial doubt, he considered the plan "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unconventional character of their demand, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already become established".
What exactly did the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", he answered. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the elder child had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family told the consultant they wished to avoid the same situation to recur with their younger child.
The plan: To engage a English tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the development at the start here is somewhat absorbed naturally," explained the expert.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will adopt the British traits they aim to impart.
The consultant noted the tutor needed to be someone who attended "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed him the chosen tutor should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to influence the child in a diverse set of passions.
Additionally though, he stated the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son become a "British gentleman" will bring about accomplishment and create opportunities.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he adds.
But, despite all this guidance in "UK identity", might the child adopt so-called cultural bias from the globally influenced family he is raised by regardless?
"Yes", replied he. "The family understand this could fail, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the tutoring industry who express similar concerns.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who provides personal educators, wrote that "the process of becoming bicultural, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
The expert wrote that he had moved from Asia to the UK at the period of childhood, and had been educated knowing and living both cultures. He continued to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that an individual can act as a embodiment of Britishness, someone who can in some way transplant the qualities of a UK sophisticate to a infant child, appears naive and impractical," he wrote.
"From my perspective, having a distinctly English tutor from infancy will will not necessarily produce the goal they desire.
"I never had such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to experience many of the situations they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, personal identity should not be forced from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, Britishness is something the expert thinks can be taught – and commercialized.
"In my view the reality that the world views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
