"A household based in the northern part of London is looking for an remarkable and experienced instructor to assist their youngest child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might naturally skip the phrase "first-steps" as mere a turn of phrase.
But, it might be the most significant aspect of this unusual job advert, as it attempts to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of applications have already been submitted since the unidentified family posted their search for the highly paid tutor, who must be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the advert has received attention throughout the news, with many wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their quest, said that notwithstanding first scepticism, he considered the plan "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they understood the unconventional character of their request, and how immature their son is.
However, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural influence had already set in".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", Adam responded. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the elder child had absorbed "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family informed him they did not want the same situation to happen again with their infant.
The strategy: To bring in a UK tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the education at the beginning here is rather osmotic," stated the CEO.
It's through this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will pick up the British traits they want to impart.
The consultant explained the tutor had to be an individual who went to "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Money No Object
The family told the expert the selected educator should preferably also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
More than that though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son develop into a "English gentleman" will lead to achievement and provide access.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he notes.
Yet, despite all this instruction in "UK identity", might the child absorb alleged cultural influence from the international family he resides with in any case?
"Yes", replied he. "The parents understand this may not work, but they've just taken the view of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as soon as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he said.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the education sector who share similar concerns.
Another CEO, chief executive of Blue Education, who provides individual instructors, wrote that "the process of becoming bicultural, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
He noted that he had moved from China to the United Kingdom at the period of 7 years old, and had been brought up experiencing and living both cultures. He continued to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that one individual can function as a living vessel of English culture, an individual who can possibly transfer the characteristics of a English gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, appears idealistic and impractical," he wrote.
"In my experience, engaging a quintessentially British tutor from infancy will does not instantly achieve the outcome they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and however I have been privileged enough to live numerous of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, self-identity should not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, UK identity is something the CEO believes can be educated – and sold.
"In my view the situation that the international society regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
