"Parents residing in north London seeks an exceptional and experienced educator to support their most junior 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 an expression.
But, it may be the crucial part of this unusual job advert, as it seeks to hire a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Many of applications have since been received since the anonymous family posted their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the advert has attracted interest across the news, with many asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their search, explained that in spite of early skepticism, he viewed the plan "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he noted they understood the unusual character of their requirement, and how young their son is.
But, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural bias had by then become established".
What precisely did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert responded. "How you eat, how you speak".
He explained the older sibling had picked up "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family explained to Adam they did not want this pattern to recur with their younger child.
The strategy: To engage a British tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the learning at the beginning here is kind of absorbed naturally," explained Adam.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will acquire the English characteristics they wish to cultivate.
Adam explained the tutor had to be someone who went to "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed him the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in riding, winter sports, the arts and musical activities so as to influence the child in a wide range of passions.
Additionally though, he explained the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son develop into a "English gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and open doors.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he comments.
But, notwithstanding all this instruction in "English culture", could the child absorb what is termed cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he lives with regardless?
"Yes", replied Adam. "They know this might not succeed, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as early as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he explained.
Impractical
Several in the education sector who share those concerns.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who provides individual instructors, stated that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
The expert explained that he had emigrated from China to the Britain at the time of 7 years old, and had been educated knowing and living two backgrounds. He continued to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that a single person can act as a living vessel of UK identity, an individual who can somehow transfer the characteristics of a English gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, appears idealistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"From my perspective, employing a distinctly English tutor from early childhood will not necessarily achieve the outcome they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to enjoy many of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, personal identity cannot be imposed from the outside; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the CEO thinks can be instructed – and marketed.
"I believe the situation that the world regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
