"Parents located in North London is looking for an exceptional and qualified tutor to guide their most junior child on his early path to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might easily miss the term "first-steps" as simple an expression.
Yet, it might be the most important element of this distinctive job advert, as it attempts to find a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of responses have already been received since the unnamed family advertised their search for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has gained interest throughout the media, with numerous asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, head and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their quest, stated that despite early skepticism, he found the concept "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they recognized the unusual character of their request, and how immature their son is.
But, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already become established".
But what did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", he answered. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He stated the elder child had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family explained to the consultant they hoped to prevent the same situation to repeat itself with their new baby.
The plan: To hire a UK tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the development at the start here is rather absorbed naturally," said Adam.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will pick up the British traits they wish to cultivate.
He noted the tutor must be an individual who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Money No Object
The family told the expert the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
More than that though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, assisting 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 social class indicator," he adds.
Yet, notwithstanding all this instruction in "English culture", might the child absorb alleged cultural bias from the globally influenced family he is raised by regardless?
"Absolutely", replied Adam. "The parents know this may not work, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he stated.
Impractical
There are some in the tutoring industry who share these reservations.
Another CEO, head and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies private tutors, stated that "the journey of embracing two identities, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
Peter explained that he had emigrated from Asia to the Britain at the time of childhood, and had been educated experiencing and embodying two backgrounds. He progressed to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that an individual can act as a living vessel of English culture, someone who can possibly transfer the qualities of a UK sophisticate upon a one-year-old child, seems to me optimistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"In my experience, engaging a typically English tutor from infancy will not automatically produce the result they hope for.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and yet I have been privileged enough to live numerous of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, personal identity cannot be imposed from the outside; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, Britishness is something the CEO thinks can be instructed – and commercialized.
"In my view the reality that the global community regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
