"Parents based in north London is looking for an extraordinary and qualified tutor to support their youngest child on his early path to becoming an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might naturally overlook the phrase "first-steps" as mere a turn of phrase.
However, it might be the crucial part of this distinctive employment listing, as it aims to hire a tutor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of applications have already been submitted since the unidentified family advertised their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the listing has attracted notice throughout the press, with numerous asking why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their hunt, said that despite early skepticism, he viewed the idea "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they recognized the unusual character of their demand, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already become established".
What precisely did the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam responded. "How you eat, how you speak".
He said the older sibling had picked up "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family explained to Adam they wished to avoid this pattern to recur with their new baby.
The intention: To bring in a English tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to shape the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the education at the start here is kind of acquired indirectly," stated the CEO.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will pick up the UK customs they aim to cultivate.
He said the tutor needed to be someone who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to him the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in riding, skiing, the arts and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of interests.
More than that though, he explained the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son develop into a "English gentleman" will bring about achievement and open doors.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he notes.
However, notwithstanding all this guidance in "UK identity", would the child adopt what is termed cultural bias from the globally influenced family he resides with regardless?
"Certainly", said Adam. "The parents know this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced 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.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the private teaching field who have these reservations.
Another CEO, head and founder of Blue Education, who also offer individual instructors, commented that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
He noted that he had emigrated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the time of seven, and had been brought up experiencing and living both cultures. He continued to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that an individual can serve as a representation of UK identity, someone who can somehow transfer the qualities of a UK sophisticate to a one-year-old child, seems to me optimistic and impractical," he commented.
"Based on my background, employing a typically English tutor from babyhood will will not necessarily achieve the goal they want.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to experience several of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, personal identity can not be imposed from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, Britishness is something the CEO believes can be educated – and sold.
"In my view the reality that the international society holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
