"A family based in north London seeks an remarkable and skilled tutor to support their youngest child on his early path to growing into an English gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might readily skip the wording "first-steps" as just an expression.
But, it may be the most important element of this unique job advert, as it attempts to hire a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Many of applications have already been submitted since the unidentified family published their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the post has gained attention across the media, with several asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, chief executive of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their hunt, said that despite early skepticism, he considered the plan "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they appreciated the unusual aspect of their request, and how young their son is.
However, they explained 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 stage "cultural bias had by then taken hold".
What exactly does the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert responded. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the firstborn had adopted "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family told Adam they wished to avoid history to recur with their younger child.
The intention: To engage a British tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the education at the start here is kind of acquired indirectly," stated the CEO.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will acquire the UK customs they aim to instil.
Adam noted the tutor had to be an individual who attended "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Money No Object
The family told him the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a wide range of passions.
Furthermore though, he said the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son become a "English gentleman" will bring about accomplishment and create opportunities.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he comments.
But, despite all this instruction in "English culture", might the child pick up what is termed cultural bias from the globally influenced family he lives with anyway?
"Certainly", answered he. "The family know this could fail, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'we should try and we should start as soon as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the education sector who express similar reservations.
Another CEO, head and founder of Blue Education, who also offer individual instructors, stated that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
Peter explained that he had emigrated from the Far East to the UK at the age of 7 years old, and had been brought up understanding and embodying dual heritages. He continued to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that a single person can function as a living vessel of Britishness, someone who can in some way transplant the qualities of a UK sophisticate to a one-year-old child, appears idealistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"From my perspective, employing a quintessentially UK tutor from babyhood will will not necessarily produce the goal they hope for.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to experience many of the experiences they hope for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, cultural identity should not be forced from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, UK identity is something the expert hopes can be taught – and commercialized.
"I think the situation that the world regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
