"A household located in North London wants to find an exceptional and skilled instructor to support their youngest child on his early path to growing into an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might naturally overlook the wording "first-steps" as simple figurative language.
But, it could be the most important aspect of this unusual job advert, as it aims to hire a tutor for a infant.
Hundreds of responses have now been sent in since the unnamed family advertised their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the post has gained attention in the press, with many asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their hunt, said that in spite of initial scepticism, he found the concept "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he said they appreciated the atypical aspect of their request, and how young their son is.
But, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already taken hold".
What precisely did the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam responded. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the older sibling had absorbed "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family informed Adam they did not want the same situation to repeat itself with their infant.
The intention: To hire a British tutor, who should speak with RP, to guide the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the education at the outset here is kind of acquired indirectly," stated the expert.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will pick up the British traits they aim to cultivate.
The consultant noted the tutor had to be somebody who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories 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, effortlessly," he said.
Money No Object
The family explained to the expert the chosen tutor should preferably also have familiarity of or passion in equestrian activities, skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to influence the child in a diverse set of passions.
Furthermore though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a range of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son become a "English gentleman" will result in accomplishment and provide access.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he adds.
Yet, notwithstanding all this guidance in "English culture", could the child adopt alleged cultural bias from the globally influenced family he is raised by in any case?
"Absolutely", answered Adam. "The parents know this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Impractical
Several in the private teaching field who have these doubts.
An education leader, chief executive of an educational organization, who provides private tutors, commented that "the development of becoming bicultural, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
He noted that he had emigrated from Asia to the Britain at the time of seven, and had been raised experiencing and embodying both cultures. He continued to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that a single person can act as a representation of Britishness, someone who can in some way impart the attributes of a English gentleman upon a infant child, appears idealistic and impractical," he commented.
"From my perspective, having a quintessentially British tutor from infancy will does not instantly achieve the goal they hope for.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to live numerous of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, self-identity cannot be imposed from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Of course, English culture is something Adam believes can be educated – and marketed.
"I believe the situation that the world holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
