"A household residing in North London is looking for an extraordinary and qualified instructor to guide their youngest child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might easily overlook the term "first-steps" as just figurative language.
However, it may be the crucial element of this unusual employment listing, as it aims to hire a teacher for a infant.
Hundreds of applications have now been submitted since the unidentified family published their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the post has received notice in the news, with several questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, chief executive of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their search, explained that notwithstanding initial scepticism, he found the idea "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he noted they recognized the atypical character of their request, and how early in age their son is.
However, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural bias had by then become established".
But what did the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", the expert replied. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family informed the consultant they did not want the same situation to repeat itself with their new baby.
The intention: To engage a English tutor, who must speak with RP, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the development at the start here is kind of absorbed naturally," stated the CEO.
It's via this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will acquire the UK customs they wish to impart.
He said the tutor must be an individual who went to "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to him the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and music so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he said the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will result in achievement and open doors.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he comments.
Yet, despite all this tutelage in "English culture", might the child absorb what is termed cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he resides with in any case?
"Certainly", replied the CEO. "They realize this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he said.
Impractical
Several in the private teaching field who express those concerns.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who also offer individual instructors, wrote that "the development of becoming bicultural, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
He wrote that he had moved from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the time of 7 years old, and had been raised experiencing and embodying both cultures. He continued to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that an individual can act as a living vessel of Britishness, someone who can somehow impart the qualities of a UK sophisticate to a one-year-old child, seems to me naive and unrealistic," he stated.
"In my experience, having a typically British tutor from babyhood will will not necessarily achieve the result they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to enjoy many of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, self-identity can not be forced from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, Britishness is something the CEO believes can be instructed – and sold.
"I think the fact that the world regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
