"A family residing in the northern part of London seeks an exceptional and experienced educator to support their smallest child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might readily overlook the phrase "first-steps" as mere an expression.
However, it may be the crucial aspect of this unique job advert, as it seeks to hire a mentor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of responses have now been submitted since the unidentified family advertised their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has received attention across the media, with many questioning why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their hunt, stated that notwithstanding first doubt, he viewed the plan "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he noted they understood the unusual character of their request, and how early in age their son is.
But, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had already set in".
What exactly did the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", he responded. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the elder child had picked up "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family told the consultant they hoped to prevent the same situation to happen again with their infant.
The plan: To hire a British tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the learning at the outset here is rather absorbed naturally," said the expert.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will adopt the UK customs they wish to cultivate.
Adam said the tutor needed to be someone who attended "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator must be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told him the successful candidate should preferably also have familiarity of or interest in riding, skiing, creative fields and music so as to influence the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Additionally though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about accomplishment and provide access.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he adds.
Yet, despite all this instruction in "UK identity", might the child pick up alleged cultural bias from the globally influenced family he is raised by regardless?
"Absolutely", said the CEO. "The parents know this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he stated.
Impractical
There are some in the tutoring industry who have those doubts.
Peter Cui, head and founder of Blue Education, who provides individual instructors, commented that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
He wrote that he had emigrated from Asia to the Britain at the age of 7 years old, and had been brought up knowing and living dual heritages. He went on to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The concept that a single person can act as a living vessel of Britishness, someone who can in some way transfer the characteristics of a British gentleman upon a one-year-old child, appears idealistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"In my experience, engaging a distinctly British tutor from infancy will does not automatically produce the result they hope for.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and yet I have been lucky enough to experience several of the situations they hope for their son."
He added: "The reality is, self-identity can not be forced from the outside; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, Britishness is something Adam thinks can be educated – and commercialized.
"In my view the reality that the global community regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
