"Parents residing in North London is looking for an remarkable and experienced instructor to support their most junior child on his early path to becoming an English gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might naturally overlook the phrase "first-steps" as just figurative language.
Yet, it might be the crucial element of this unusual employment listing, as it attempts to hire a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Many of submissions have now been submitted since the anonymous family posted their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has gained attention across the press, with many asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, chief executive of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their quest, stated that notwithstanding early scepticism, he viewed the idea "visionary", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they understood the atypical aspect of their request, and how early in age their son is.
But, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already taken hold".
But what did the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", he replied. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He said the elder child had absorbed "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family explained to him they did not want this pattern to recur with their infant.
The intention: To engage a English tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to influence the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the development at the outset here is rather acquired indirectly," explained the expert.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will pick up the English characteristics they want to cultivate.
Adam explained the tutor needed 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 tutor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in horse riding, winter sports, the arts and musical activities so as to influence the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he stated the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son become a "UK sophisticate" will result in accomplishment and open doors.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he adds.
Yet, despite all this instruction in "Britishness", might the child adopt so-called cultural influence from the multicultural family he resides with anyway?
"Absolutely", replied the CEO. "They understand this might not succeed, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the education sector who express similar concerns.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who provides private tutors, commented that "the development of becoming bicultural, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
Peter wrote that he had moved from Asia to the UK at the time of childhood, and had been brought up experiencing and practicing both cultures. He continued to learn at Cambridge University.
"The idea that one individual can serve as a living vessel of Britishness, someone who can in some way impart the characteristics of a British gentleman onto a one-year-old child, strikes me as naive and unrealistic," he commented.
"From my perspective, having a quintessentially English tutor from babyhood will will not necessarily create the outcome they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and however I have been lucky enough to live many of the experiences they desire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, self-identity should not be forced from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, UK identity is something Adam hopes can be educated – and commercialized.
"I believe the reality that the world holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
