"A family based in the northern part of London seeks an exceptional and qualified instructor to support their most junior child on his early path to growing into an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might naturally miss the phrase "first-steps" as simple figurative language.
However, it may be the most important part of this unusual employment listing, as it seeks to find a tutor for a infant.
Many of applications have already been submitted since the anonymous family advertised their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the advert has attracted interest in the media, with numerous wondering why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their search, stated that despite initial doubt, he considered the idea "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they recognized the unusual aspect of their demand, and how young their son is.
However, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural influence had by then become established".
What exactly does the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", he replied. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the older sibling had picked up "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family explained to him they hoped to prevent history to repeat itself with their infant.
The intention: To hire a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the education at the start here is somewhat acquired indirectly," explained Adam.
It's via this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will acquire the British traits they want to cultivate.
He explained the tutor must be somebody who studied at "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Money No Object
The family explained to the expert the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a wide range of interests.
More than that though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son develop into a "British gentleman" will lead to success and open doors.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he comments.
However, notwithstanding all this guidance in "English culture", could the child adopt so-called cultural influence from the globally influenced family he resides with in any case?
"Absolutely", answered Adam. "The family know this may not work, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as early as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the education sector who have those reservations.
An education leader, head and founder of an educational organization, who provides personal educators, stated that "the development of embracing two identities, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
Peter explained that he had moved from Asia to the Britain at the age of childhood, and had been raised experiencing and embodying two backgrounds. He continued to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that a single person can serve as a embodiment of UK identity, someone who can possibly transfer the characteristics of a English gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"In my experience, having a quintessentially British tutor from babyhood will will not necessarily produce the result they want.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to experience several of the situations they hope for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, personal identity cannot be dictated from the outside; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Of course, UK identity is something the expert thinks can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I think the reality that the world holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
