"A household based in North London seeks an extraordinary and qualified tutor to assist their most junior child on his early path to growing into an British gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might easily overlook the term "first-steps" as mere an expression.
But, it might be the most important aspect of this distinctive employment listing, as it attempts to hire a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of responses have already been received since the anonymous family published their call for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the listing has received interest throughout the press, with numerous wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, chief executive of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their search, stated that in spite of first skepticism, he found the plan "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he said they recognized the unconventional aspect of their requirement, and how young their son is.
But, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had already taken hold".
But what does the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert responded. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the elder child had picked up "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family explained to Adam they wished to avoid the same situation to happen again with their new baby.
The plan: To hire a English tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the education at the outset here is somewhat osmotic," said the CEO.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will adopt the UK customs they wish to cultivate.
He noted the tutor had to be somebody who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Money No Object
The family told the expert the successful candidate should preferably also have understanding of or passion in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
More than that though, he said the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a range of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son develop into a "English gentleman" will bring about accomplishment and provide access.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he adds.
However, in spite of all this tutelage in "UK identity", could the child adopt what is termed cultural bias from the international family he resides with regardless?
"Absolutely", replied the CEO. "The parents know this could fail, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as soon as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Impractical
Several in the education sector who share similar reservations.
An education leader, chief executive of a tutoring service, who provides individual instructors, commented that "the process of embracing two identities, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
The expert wrote that he had moved from the Far East to the UK at the time of childhood, and had been brought up experiencing and embodying both cultures. He progressed to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that an individual can function as a living vessel of English culture, an individual who can in some way impart the attributes of a UK sophisticate to a infant child, seems to me idealistic and impractical," he commented.
"From my perspective, employing a distinctly UK tutor from early childhood will does not instantly achieve the result they want.
"I did not have such a tutor, and yet I have been lucky enough to experience many of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, personal identity cannot be forced from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, English culture is something the CEO hopes can be taught – and sold.
"In my view the fact that the global community holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
