"A household located in north London wants to find an exceptional and experienced tutor to assist their most junior child on his early path to turning into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might readily overlook the wording "first-steps" as mere figurative language.
But, it may be the crucial element of this distinctive position posting, as it seeks to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of submissions have already been sent in since the anonymous family advertised their search for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the post has gained notice in the news, with numerous questioning why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their quest, explained that notwithstanding initial scepticism, he viewed the idea "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he noted they understood the atypical nature of their request, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had by then taken hold".
What precisely does the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", Adam responded. "How you eat, how you speak".
He explained the firstborn had picked up "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family informed Adam they did not want history to happen again with their younger child.
The strategy: To engage a British tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to shape the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the development at the beginning here is rather absorbed naturally," explained Adam.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will pick up the English characteristics they wish to instil.
Adam noted the tutor needed to be somebody who attended "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Money No Object
The family told Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in equestrian activities, skiing, creative fields and music so as to shape the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Additionally though, he said the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son develop into a "English gentleman" will bring about achievement and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he notes.
However, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "English culture", would the child pick up so-called cultural influence from the multicultural family he lives with in any case?
"Certainly", answered Adam. "They understand this might not succeed, but they've just taken the view of, 'we should try and we should start as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the private teaching field who express these concerns.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who supplies private tutors, commented that "the process of becoming bicultural, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
The expert explained that he had emigrated from the Far East to the UK at the age of 7 years old, and had been brought up understanding and embodying two backgrounds. He went on to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that one individual can act as a living vessel of English culture, a person who can somehow transfer the qualities of a English gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, appears optimistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"From my perspective, engaging a quintessentially British tutor from babyhood will not necessarily achieve the goal they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to enjoy many of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, self-identity should not be imposed from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, English culture is something the CEO hopes can be taught – and commercialized.
"I believe the reality that the world regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
