"A household based in north London wants to find an extraordinary and experienced instructor to guide their youngest child on his early path to growing into an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might easily miss the wording "first-steps" as just a turn of phrase.
Yet, it might be the most important part of this unusual employment listing, as it attempts to hire a mentor for a infant.
Numerous of applications have already been submitted since the unidentified family published their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the post has received attention across the news, with numerous questioning why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, head and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their quest, said that despite first doubt, he viewed the plan "visionary", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they recognized the atypical character of their request, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already set in".
But what did the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", the expert responded. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He stated the firstborn had absorbed "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family explained to Adam they wished to avoid history to repeat itself with their younger child.
The intention: To bring in a UK tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the development at the outset here is rather osmotic," explained the expert.
It's via this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will adopt the English characteristics they wish to impart.
Adam explained the tutor had to be somebody who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Money No Object
The family informed Adam the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a diverse set of passions.
More than that though, he said the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son become a "UK sophisticate" will bring about achievement and provide access.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he comments.
But, in spite of all this instruction in "Britishness", could the child adopt what is termed cultural influence from the international family he is raised by in any case?
"Absolutely", replied the CEO. "The family know this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the tutoring industry who share those concerns.
Peter Cui, head and founder of a tutoring service, who provides private tutors, wrote that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
Peter wrote that he had moved from Asia to the UK at the age of seven, and had been brought up knowing and practicing both cultures. He continued to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that one individual can function as a embodiment of Britishness, an individual who can in some way impart the qualities of a British gentleman upon a one-year-old child, appears optimistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"From my perspective, employing a distinctly English tutor from infancy will not automatically achieve the result they desire.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and yet I have been privileged enough to live several of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, personal identity can not be forced from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, Britishness is something Adam thinks can be educated – and marketed.
"In my view the fact that the international society views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
