"Parents located in the northern part of London seeks an remarkable and qualified educator to guide their most junior child on his initial journey to turning into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might readily skip the phrase "first-steps" as just an expression.
Yet, it may be the most significant part of this distinctive position posting, as it aims to find a teacher for a infant.
Many of submissions have now been sent in since the anonymous family advertised their request for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the post has gained interest across the media, with numerous wondering why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their search, explained that notwithstanding first skepticism, he considered the concept "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he noted they understood the unconventional character of their request, and how immature their son is.
However, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had by then become established".
But what does the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", he replied. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the elder child had adopted "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family informed Adam they wished to avoid history to recur with their new baby.
The intention: To bring in a English tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the learning at the start here is kind of osmotic," stated the CEO.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will pick up the UK customs they aim to cultivate.
He said the tutor had to be someone who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family explained to the expert the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in equestrian activities, winter sports, artistic pursuits and music so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
More than that though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son grow into a "British gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and open doors.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he notes.
But, in spite of all this tutelage in "Britishness", would the child absorb so-called cultural bias from the international family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", said he. "The parents know this may not work, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as early as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he said.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the private teaching field who have similar concerns.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who provides private tutors, stated that "the development of embracing two identities, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
Peter explained that he had emigrated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the time of childhood, and had been raised experiencing and practicing both cultures. He went on to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that an individual can function as a representation of UK identity, an individual who can in some way impart the attributes of a British gentleman upon a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and impractical," he stated.
"In my experience, having a distinctly British tutor from infancy will does not instantly create the goal they want.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to enjoy many of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, personal identity cannot be forced from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, English culture is something the CEO hopes can be taught – and sold.
"I believe the reality that the global community views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
