"Parents located in north London seeks an exceptional and experienced educator to guide their most junior child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might easily miss the phrase "first-steps" as simple figurative language.
Yet, it may be the crucial part of this unique position posting, as it seeks to find a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of responses have already been sent in since the unidentified family posted their call for the highly paid tutor, who must be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the listing has attracted interest in the media, with numerous wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, head and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their quest, explained that despite first skepticism, he viewed the idea "visionary", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he said they understood the unusual nature of their request, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural bias had by then set in".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", the expert replied. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He stated the elder child had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family told him they hoped to prevent the same situation to recur with their new baby.
The intention: To engage a English tutor, who should speak with RP, to shape the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the education at the outset here is rather acquired indirectly," said the CEO.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will acquire the UK customs they aim to impart.
The consultant noted the tutor had to be someone who went to "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Money No Object
The family told him the successful candidate should preferably also have knowledge of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, the arts and music so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of interests.
Additionally though, he explained the family desired the tutor to register the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son become a "English gentleman" will bring about success and create opportunities.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he notes.
Yet, in spite of all this guidance in "Britishness", would the child absorb alleged cultural bias from the multicultural family he is raised by in any case?
"Certainly", answered he. "The parents realize this may not work, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he said.
Impractical
There are some in the private teaching field who have these reservations.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who provides private tutors, wrote that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
He noted that he had moved from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the age of childhood, and had been educated understanding and practicing dual heritages. He went on to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that an individual can act as a embodiment of UK identity, someone who can in some way impart the qualities of a UK sophisticate to a one-year-old child, strikes me as naive and impractical," he stated.
"Based on my background, having a distinctly English tutor from infancy will does not necessarily create the result they hope for.
"I never had such a tutor, and yet I have been lucky enough to enjoy several of the experiences they desire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, personal identity cannot be dictated from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, Britishness is something the CEO thinks can be instructed – and marketed.
"I believe the reality that the world regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
