"A family based in North London seeks an extraordinary and qualified instructor to assist their most junior child on his early path to becoming an British gentleman."
When reading this post, you might naturally skip the term "first-steps" as just figurative language.
However, it could be the most significant element of this unusual employment listing, as it attempts to recruit a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of responses have already been received since the unnamed family advertised their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has gained attention across the media, with numerous wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their quest, explained that despite initial scepticism, he found the concept "visionary", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he noted they understood the atypical nature of their requirement, and how young their son is.
But, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already taken hold".
What precisely did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", he responded. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the elder child had adopted "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family informed him they wished to avoid this pattern to happen again with their new baby.
The strategy: To engage a British tutor, who should speak with RP, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the learning at the beginning here is rather acquired indirectly," said the expert.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will pick up the English characteristics they want to impart.
He said the tutor must be somebody who studied at "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or interest in equestrian activities, skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a diverse set of interests.
More than that though, he said the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son develop into a "English gentleman" will result in accomplishment and provide access.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he comments.
However, in spite of all this guidance in "Britishness", might the child pick up alleged cultural bias from the multicultural family he is raised by in any case?
"Yes", replied he. "They realize this may not work, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as early as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the private teaching field who express those doubts.
Another CEO, chief executive of a tutoring service, who also offer individual instructors, wrote that "the development of embracing two identities, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
The expert wrote that he had emigrated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the period of childhood, and had been raised experiencing and practicing both cultures. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that an individual can act as a living vessel of English culture, a person who can somehow transfer the characteristics of a British gentleman to a infant child, seems to me idealistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"In my experience, having a distinctly UK tutor from early childhood will will not instantly produce the result they want.
"I did not have such a tutor, and however I have been lucky enough to live many of the situations they hope for their son."
He added: "The truth is, self-identity can not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, English culture is something Adam hopes can be instructed – and sold.
"I believe the situation that the world views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
