"Parents residing in the northern part of London is looking for an extraordinary and experienced instructor to guide their smallest child on his early path to turning into an English gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might easily miss the wording "first-steps" as just an expression.
Yet, it might be the crucial aspect of this unusual position posting, as it seeks to recruit a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Many of submissions have now been received since the anonymous family posted their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the listing has attracted attention throughout the press, with several wondering why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their hunt, stated that despite initial scepticism, he viewed the plan "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they appreciated the unconventional character of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
But, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had already become established".
What precisely did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", he replied. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the firstborn had picked up "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family explained to Adam they wished to avoid this pattern to recur with their infant.
The strategy: To engage a UK tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the development at the start here is rather absorbed naturally," explained Adam.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will adopt the British traits they aim to cultivate.
The consultant noted the tutor had to be an individual who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a diverse set of passions.
Furthermore though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son develop into a "English gentleman" will bring about accomplishment and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he adds.
However, in spite of all this tutelage in "Britishness", would the child adopt so-called cultural bias from the international family he lives with regardless?
"Absolutely", replied he. "The parents realize this could fail, but they've just taken the view of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he said.
Impractical
A number of in the private teaching field who have those doubts.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who also offer individual instructors, stated that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
The expert noted that he had emigrated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the age of seven, and had been raised understanding and practicing two backgrounds. He continued to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that one individual can function as a embodiment of English culture, someone who can in some way impart the characteristics of a English gentleman onto a one-year-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"Based on my background, engaging a distinctly UK tutor from early childhood will will not automatically create the goal they desire.
"I never had such a tutor, and yet I have been privileged enough to experience many of the situations they desire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, personal identity cannot be dictated from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, UK identity is something the CEO thinks can be taught – and marketed.
"I think the fact that the international society holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
