"A household based in north London wants to find an extraordinary and experienced educator to assist their most junior child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might readily skip the phrase "first-steps" as just figurative language.
Yet, it may be the most important aspect of this distinctive employment listing, as it attempts to find a mentor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of applications have now been submitted since the unidentified family published their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the advert has attracted notice throughout the news, with several wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their quest, said that despite first scepticism, he found the concept "visionary", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unconventional aspect of their requirement, and how young their son is.
But, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had by then taken hold".
What exactly did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", he responded. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the elder child had adopted "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family told the consultant they wished to avoid the same situation to happen again with their infant.
The plan: To hire a UK tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the development at the start here is rather acquired indirectly," explained the CEO.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will pick up the English characteristics they aim to cultivate.
The consultant said the tutor had to be an individual who went to "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Money No Object
The family explained to Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or passion in equestrian activities, winter sports, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to influence the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Additionally though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son develop into a "English gentleman" will bring about achievement and create opportunities.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he adds.
However, notwithstanding all this guidance in "Britishness", might the child adopt alleged cultural influence from the multicultural family he resides with anyway?
"Certainly", said the CEO. "They realize this could fail, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he explained.
Impractical
A number of in the tutoring industry who express those reservations.
Another CEO, head and founder of an educational organization, who supplies personal educators, wrote that "the development of embracing two identities, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
He wrote that he had emigrated from China to the UK at the age of childhood, and had been educated experiencing and practicing dual heritages. He went on to learn at Cambridge University.
"The concept that one individual can serve as a embodiment of English culture, a person who can in some way impart the attributes of a UK sophisticate upon a infant child, seems to me naive and unfeasible," he stated.
"In my experience, engaging a typically UK tutor from infancy will not necessarily produce the outcome they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to experience many of the situations they aspire for their son."
He added: "The truth is, personal identity should not be forced from the outside; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, Britishness is something the CEO thinks can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I think the reality that the global community views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
