"A household located in the northern part of London wants to find an remarkable and skilled instructor to assist their youngest child on his early path to turning into an English gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might naturally skip the term "first-steps" as mere a turn of phrase.
However, it could be the crucial element of this distinctive employment listing, as it seeks to recruit a mentor for a one-year-old.
Many of responses have already been sent in since the unidentified family posted their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the listing has gained notice throughout the press, with many asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, chief executive of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their hunt, stated that in spite of initial scepticism, he found the idea "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he said they recognized the atypical character of their request, and how young their son is.
However, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already set in".
But what did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", he responded. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the elder child had picked up "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family explained to the consultant they did not want this pattern to happen again with their infant.
The strategy: To engage a English tutor, who must speak with RP, to guide the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is somewhat absorbed naturally," said the expert.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will acquire the British traits they want to instil.
He explained the tutor must be an individual who went to "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Money No Object
The family informed the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or interest in riding, winter sports, creative fields and music so as to shape the child in a diverse set of interests.
Furthermore though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son grow into a "British gentleman" will bring about achievement and open doors.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he notes.
Yet, in spite of all this guidance in "Britishness", would the child absorb so-called cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he resides with regardless?
"Absolutely", answered he. "The parents understand this could fail, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the tutoring industry who express similar reservations.
An education leader, head and founder of Blue Education, who provides private tutors, stated that "the journey of embracing two identities, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
Peter explained that he had moved from Asia to the Britain at the time of childhood, and had been raised knowing and living two backgrounds. He continued to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can function as a representation of English culture, a person who can somehow impart the qualities of a UK sophisticate onto a 12-month-old child, strikes me as idealistic and impractical," he commented.
"In my experience, having a distinctly UK tutor from babyhood will not necessarily produce the goal they desire.
"I did not have such a tutor, and yet I have been lucky enough to live several of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, self-identity can not be dictated from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, Britishness is something Adam believes can be taught – and sold.
"I think the reality that the world regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
