"A household based in North London wants to find an extraordinary and qualified tutor to support their most junior child on his initial journey to turning into an British gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might readily skip the term "first-steps" as mere a turn of phrase.
However, it might be the most important part of this unique job advert, as it aims to recruit a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of applications have since been received since the anonymous family published their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the advert has attracted attention in the media, with several questioning why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their quest, said that notwithstanding early scepticism, he viewed the idea "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he said they recognized the unusual nature of their request, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural influence had by then taken hold".
What precisely did the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert replied. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the older sibling had adopted "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family informed him they did not want the same situation to happen again with their infant.
The intention: To hire a UK tutor, who should speak with RP, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is somewhat osmotic," stated Adam.
It's via this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will pick up the UK customs they aim to instil.
The consultant explained the tutor needed to be somebody who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed the expert the chosen tutor should preferably also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, winter sports, creative fields and musical activities so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a range of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son become a "British gentleman" will lead to achievement and provide access.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he adds.
Yet, despite all this guidance in "Britishness", could the child adopt so-called cultural leaning from the multicultural family he lives with regardless?
"Yes", said the CEO. "The family realize this may not work, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as early as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who have those concerns.
An education leader, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies personal educators, wrote that "the process of becoming bicultural, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
The expert explained that he had moved from Asia to the United Kingdom at the time of seven, and had been educated knowing and living both cultures. He progressed to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that an individual can function as a living vessel of English culture, a person who can possibly transfer the characteristics of a English gentleman upon a one-year-old child, strikes me as naive and impractical," he wrote.
"Based on my background, engaging a typically English tutor from early childhood will will not automatically achieve the result they desire.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and however I have been privileged enough to live several of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, self-identity should not be dictated from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, Britishness is something Adam thinks can be educated – and sold.
"In my view the situation that the world views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
