"A household based in the northern part of London wants to find an remarkable and qualified tutor to support their most junior child on his early path to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this post, you might naturally skip the term "first-steps" as mere a turn of phrase.
But, it may be the crucial part of this unique employment listing, as it aims to hire a tutor for a infant.
Numerous of applications have now been submitted since the unidentified family published their search for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the post has received notice in the news, with many asking why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their hunt, explained that despite first doubt, he found the plan "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they appreciated the atypical nature of their requirement, and how early in age 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 older child was five, and by that point "cultural bias had by then taken hold".
But what did the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", he responded. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the firstborn had adopted "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family explained to Adam they hoped to prevent this pattern to repeat itself with their new baby.
The strategy: To hire a British tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the learning at the start here is somewhat osmotic," said the CEO.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will acquire the British traits they aim to cultivate.
Adam said the tutor needed to be somebody who went to "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator must be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Money No Object
The family explained to Adam the chosen tutor should preferably also have familiarity of or interest in riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to influence the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Additionally though, he said the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son develop into a "British gentleman" will bring about achievement and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he notes.
However, notwithstanding all this guidance in "English culture", might the child absorb alleged cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he lives with regardless?
"Certainly", said the CEO. "They realize this could fail, 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 relevant," he stated.
Impractical
Several in the private teaching field who share similar reservations.
Another CEO, head and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies private tutors, commented that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
He explained that he had moved from Asia to the United Kingdom at the age of seven, and had been raised understanding and practicing dual heritages. He continued to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that a single person can function as a living vessel of Britishness, an individual who can in some way transfer the attributes of a British gentleman onto a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"Based on my background, engaging a distinctly English tutor from infancy will does not necessarily achieve the outcome they hope for.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to live several of the situations they desire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be forced from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, English culture is something Adam believes can be educated – and marketed.
"In my view the fact that the world views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
