"Parents based in North London is looking for an extraordinary and skilled tutor to guide their most junior child on his initial journey to turning into an British gentleman."
When reading this post, you might naturally miss the term "first-steps" as mere an expression.
But, it may be the crucial part of this distinctive job advert, as it aims to recruit a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of submissions have now been sent in since the unnamed family posted their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the listing has received interest in the press, with numerous wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their hunt, said that despite first scepticism, he viewed the concept "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he noted they recognized the unconventional character of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
But, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already taken hold".
What exactly does the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", he answered. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the older sibling had adopted "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family explained to Adam they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their new baby.
The plan: To bring in a UK tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the development at the beginning here is kind of osmotic," said the CEO.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will adopt the English characteristics they want to cultivate.
The consultant said the tutor must be somebody who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Money No Object
The family informed Adam the chosen tutor should preferably also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, skiing, the arts and music so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
Furthermore though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son develop into a "British gentleman" will lead to achievement and provide access.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he notes.
But, notwithstanding all this instruction in "UK identity", might the child pick up what is termed cultural leaning from the international family he is raised by regardless?
"Certainly", replied the CEO. "They realize this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the private teaching field who share those concerns.
Peter Cui, head and founder of Blue Education, who supplies individual instructors, wrote that "the development of becoming bicultural, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
He explained that he had relocated from Asia to the United Kingdom at the age of seven, and had been brought up experiencing and practicing both cultures. He progressed to study at Cambridge University.
"The concept that a single person can function as a living vessel of Britishness, an individual who can possibly transplant the attributes of a British gentleman upon a infant child, strikes me as optimistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"Based on my background, engaging a typically British tutor from early childhood will does not instantly create the outcome they hope for.
"I never had such a tutor, and however I have been lucky enough to live numerous of the experiences they hope for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, self-identity cannot be forced from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, Britishness is something Adam hopes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"In my view the reality that the international society holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
