"Parents based in the northern part of London is looking for an extraordinary and qualified instructor to support their smallest child on his early path to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might naturally skip the wording "first-steps" as mere an expression.
Yet, it could be the most significant part of this unique position posting, as it seeks to recruit a mentor for a infant.
Many of applications have already been received since the anonymous family posted their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the post has gained attention in the media, with several wondering why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, chief executive of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their quest, said that in spite of initial doubt, he found the plan "visionary", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he said they recognized the unconventional character of their demand, and how young their son is.
However, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had by then taken hold".
What exactly did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", he answered. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He said the elder child had adopted "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family informed him they did not want the same situation to recur with their new baby.
The intention: To engage a English tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the learning at the outset here is kind of acquired indirectly," stated the expert.
It's through this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will pick up the UK customs they aim to cultivate.
The consultant explained the tutor had to be an individual who studied at "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed the expert the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, winter sports, creative fields and musical activities so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Additionally though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son develop into a "British gentleman" will result in success and create opportunities.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he adds.
However, in spite of all this guidance in "English culture", could the child pick up so-called cultural bias from the multicultural family he resides with in any case?
"Absolutely", answered Adam. "They know this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as early as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he said.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the tutoring industry who have similar doubts.
Peter Cui, chief executive of an educational organization, who provides personal educators, wrote that "the journey of embracing two identities, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
Peter noted that he had moved from China to the United Kingdom at the age of 7 years old, and had been brought up understanding and embodying two backgrounds. He continued to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that a single person can function as a embodiment of English culture, a person who can in some way transplant the characteristics of a British gentleman to a one-year-old child, seems to me optimistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"In my experience, employing a typically UK tutor from babyhood will not automatically create the goal they hope for.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and yet I have been privileged enough to experience several of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, cultural identity should not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, Britishness is something the expert thinks can be instructed – and marketed.
"In my view the fact that the global community regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
