"A household located in the northern part of London is looking for an exceptional and skilled tutor to support their smallest child on his early path to growing into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might readily overlook the term "first-steps" as mere an expression.
But, it may be the most significant element of this unusual position posting, as it attempts to hire a mentor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of responses have since been submitted since the unidentified family advertised their request for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the advert has received interest across the media, with many wondering why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, said that despite early skepticism, he considered the concept "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he said they recognized the unconventional character of their request, and how young their son is.
However, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already set in".
What precisely did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", he answered. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the elder child had absorbed "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family told him they wished to avoid this pattern to happen again with their younger child.
The plan: To hire a British tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the education at the outset here is rather acquired indirectly," stated the expert.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will adopt the UK customs they wish to instil.
Adam explained the tutor must be somebody who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to him the successful candidate should preferably also have knowledge of or passion in horse riding, winter sports, the arts and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son develop into a "British gentleman" will lead to success and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he adds.
Yet, despite all this instruction in "Britishness", might the child pick up what is termed cultural bias from the multicultural family he is raised by in any case?
"Certainly", said Adam. "The family understand this might not succeed, but they've just taken the view of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the education sector who share similar concerns.
Another CEO, head and founder of Blue Education, who supplies personal educators, stated that "the process of embracing two identities, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
The expert wrote that he had moved from China to the United Kingdom at the age of seven, and had been educated knowing and embodying dual heritages. He continued to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that an individual can function as a embodiment of UK identity, someone who can possibly impart the attributes of a UK sophisticate to a one-year-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"In my experience, having a typically English tutor from early childhood will does not instantly produce the result they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to live several of the situations they aspire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, cultural identity should not be forced from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, English culture is something Adam hopes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I believe the fact that the international society holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
