"A household residing in the northern part of London is looking for an exceptional and qualified tutor to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might naturally miss the term "first-steps" as just a turn of phrase.
But, it could be the most significant part of this unusual job advert, as it seeks to hire a mentor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of responses have already been sent in since the unidentified family posted their call for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the advert has gained attention throughout the press, with several wondering why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their hunt, said that notwithstanding first skepticism, he found the concept "visionary", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he mentioned they appreciated the atypical nature of their request, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated 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 point "cultural conditioning had already become established".
What exactly does the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert responded. "How you eat, how you speak".
He stated the elder child had adopted "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family informed him they did not want history to repeat itself with their younger child.
The strategy: To hire a UK tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the beginning here is kind of osmotic," explained Adam.
It's through this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will pick up the British traits they want to cultivate.
The consultant said the tutor had to be someone who attended "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told the expert the successful candidate should preferably also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
More than that though, he said the family desired the tutor to register the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to success and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he adds.
Yet, despite all this instruction in "UK identity", would the child pick up alleged cultural bias from the multicultural family he lives with in any case?
"Absolutely", replied he. "The parents realize this may not work, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'we should try and let's go as early as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he explained.
Impractical
A number of in the tutoring industry who express those doubts.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer private tutors, wrote that "the process of becoming bicultural, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
Peter wrote that he had emigrated from China to the United Kingdom at the period of 7 years old, and had been brought up understanding and living two backgrounds. He went on to learn at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can serve as a embodiment of English culture, an individual who can possibly transplant the characteristics of a British gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, seems to me idealistic and impractical," he commented.
"Based on my background, employing a distinctly UK tutor from babyhood will does not automatically produce the result they hope for.
"I never had such a figure, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to experience many of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He added: "The truth is, cultural identity cannot be forced from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, English culture is something Adam believes can be taught – and commercialized.
"I believe the fact that the global community views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
