"A household residing in the northern part of London seeks an remarkable and skilled tutor to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
When reading this post, you might naturally miss the wording "first-steps" as simple figurative language.
However, it may be the most significant element of this unique employment listing, as it attempts to recruit a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of responses have already been submitted since the anonymous family published their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the post has attracted notice throughout the news, with numerous asking why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their search, explained that despite early skepticism, he considered the plan "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he said they recognized the unusual nature of their request, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had by then taken hold".
What precisely does the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam responded. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He said the firstborn had picked up "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family told Adam they wished to avoid the same situation to repeat itself with their younger child.
The strategy: To bring in a UK tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the learning at the start here is rather absorbed naturally," stated the expert.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will pick up the English characteristics they want to impart.
He noted the tutor needed to be somebody who studied at "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed the expert the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in horse riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a wide range of interests.
More than that though, he said the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son become a "UK sophisticate" will lead to success and open doors.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he adds.
However, notwithstanding all this instruction in "UK identity", could the child absorb so-called cultural bias from the globally influenced family he is raised by in any case?
"Absolutely", said the CEO. "They understand this could fail, but they've just taken the view of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who share similar reservations.
An education leader, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who also offer private tutors, stated that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
The expert noted that he had moved from China to the Britain at the age of 7 years old, and had been educated experiencing and practicing both cultures. He went on to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that an individual can function as a living vessel of English culture, someone who can possibly impart the qualities of a British gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, seems to me optimistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"Based on my background, employing a quintessentially British tutor from early childhood will does not necessarily create the result they hope for.
"I did not have such a tutor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to experience many of the experiences they desire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, personal identity should not be dictated from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, Britishness is something Adam thinks can be instructed – and sold.
"In my view the reality that the international society regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
