"A family located in the northern part of London wants to find an remarkable and skilled instructor to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
When reading this post, you might readily miss the wording "first-steps" as simple figurative language.
But, it might be the most significant aspect of this distinctive employment listing, as it seeks to find a tutor for a one-year-old.
Many of responses have since been submitted since the unidentified family posted their request for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has received interest throughout the news, with several asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their hunt, explained that in spite of first scepticism, he considered the idea "visionary", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they recognized the atypical aspect of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already set in".
What exactly does the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", the expert replied. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the elder child had adopted "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family explained to Adam they wished to avoid this pattern to happen again with their new baby.
The intention: To bring in a UK tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the learning at the outset here is kind of absorbed naturally," explained the CEO.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will pick up the British traits they want to instil.
He noted the tutor must be someone who went to "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to him the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a wide range of interests.
Additionally though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son become a "UK sophisticate" will bring about accomplishment and provide access.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he notes.
However, in spite of all this tutelage in "English culture", would the child adopt what is termed cultural influence from the multicultural family he lives with regardless?
"Absolutely", answered the CEO. "They understand this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the private teaching field who share these concerns.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who also offer private tutors, wrote that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
The expert wrote that he had relocated from China to the Britain at the age of seven, and had been brought up understanding and embodying two backgrounds. He progressed to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that one individual can serve as a living vessel of Britishness, someone who can somehow impart the qualities of a English gentleman to a infant child, seems to me idealistic and impractical," he wrote.
"In my experience, engaging a quintessentially English tutor from babyhood will not necessarily create the result they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and however I have been fortunate enough to experience numerous of the experiences they hope for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, personal identity can not be dictated from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, English culture is something the expert thinks can be taught – and marketed.
"I believe the reality that the global community holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
