"Parents based in North London seeks an remarkable and skilled tutor to support their most junior child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might naturally skip the term "first-steps" as just a turn of phrase.
However, it might be the crucial aspect of this unusual position posting, as it seeks to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of applications have since been received since the unidentified family advertised their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the post has attracted interest throughout the media, with many asking why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, chief executive of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their quest, said that in spite of first scepticism, he considered the idea "visionary", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unconventional character of their request, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
What precisely did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", he answered. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the elder child had absorbed "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family explained to Adam they did not want history to repeat itself with their infant.
The strategy: To hire a UK tutor, who should speak with RP, to influence the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the development at the beginning here is somewhat absorbed naturally," stated the CEO.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will acquire the UK customs they aim to instil.
The consultant said the tutor needed to be somebody who went to "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed him the successful candidate should preferably also have knowledge of or passion in horse riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and music so as to shape the child in a diverse set of passions.
Additionally though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son develop into a "English gentleman" will bring about achievement and open doors.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he comments.
However, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "English culture", might the child pick up alleged cultural influence from the globally influenced family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", said he. "The family realize this might not succeed, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as early as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the private teaching field who express those doubts.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who provides private tutors, commented that "the journey of embracing two identities, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
The expert explained that he had moved from Asia to the UK at the age of 7 years old, and had been educated experiencing and practicing two backgrounds. He went on to study at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can act as a representation of Britishness, someone who can in some way transfer the qualities of a British gentleman upon a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and impractical," he commented.
"In my experience, employing a typically British tutor from babyhood will not automatically produce the result they want.
"I did not have such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to live numerous of the situations they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, personal identity cannot be forced from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, Britishness is something the expert believes can be educated – and commercialized.
"I believe the fact that the international society holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
