"Parents located in North London seeks an exceptional and qualified instructor to support their smallest child on his early path to growing into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might naturally overlook the wording "first-steps" as mere an expression.
However, it might be the most significant aspect of this unusual position posting, as it attempts to find a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of responses have now been submitted since the unnamed family published their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the post has gained notice across the media, with numerous questioning why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, explained that despite first skepticism, he found the idea "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he noted they understood the unusual character of their request, and how immature their son is.
But, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already taken hold".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", he replied. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He said the older sibling had adopted "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family informed Adam they hoped to prevent this pattern to repeat itself with their younger child.
The plan: To engage a British tutor, who must speak with RP, to guide the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the education at the start here is rather osmotic," stated Adam.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will adopt the UK customs they aim to impart.
He noted the tutor needed to be somebody who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed Adam the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or passion in horse riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to shape the child in a diverse set of interests.
Additionally though, he said the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son develop into a "English gentleman" will bring about accomplishment and open doors.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he adds.
But, despite all this tutelage in "English culture", could the child absorb so-called cultural leaning from the multicultural family he resides with in any case?
"Certainly", replied the CEO. "They know this may not work, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as soon as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who have similar concerns.
An education leader, chief executive of a tutoring service, who supplies personal educators, wrote that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
The expert explained that he had moved from China to the UK at the age of 7 years old, and had been educated understanding and embodying two backgrounds. He went on to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that one individual can serve as a living vessel of English culture, a person who can possibly transfer the characteristics of a UK sophisticate upon a infant child, appears optimistic and impractical," he wrote.
"From my perspective, employing a distinctly English tutor from babyhood will will not automatically create the result they want.
"I did not have such a figure, and yet I have been privileged enough to live several of the experiences they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, cultural identity cannot be imposed from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, UK identity is something the CEO thinks can be educated – and marketed.
"In my view the situation that the global community holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
