"A household residing in North London is looking for an extraordinary and experienced tutor to assist their youngest child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might easily skip the wording "first-steps" as just a turn of phrase.
However, it could be the most significant element of this unusual position posting, as it aims to hire a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of responses have since been sent in since the anonymous family advertised their request for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the post has gained interest throughout the media, with many asking why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their hunt, explained that notwithstanding initial skepticism, he viewed the idea "visionary", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he said they understood the unusual character of their demand, and how immature their son is.
However, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural influence had by then set in".
What exactly does the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", the expert replied. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He explained the elder child had adopted "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family informed him they did not want the same situation to happen again with their younger child.
The strategy: To hire a UK tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the education at the beginning here is somewhat absorbed naturally," said the expert.
It's through this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will adopt the English characteristics they wish to instil.
Adam said the tutor must be somebody who studied at "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told him the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or interest in equestrian activities, skiing, the arts and musical activities so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and learning 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 bring about achievement and open doors.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he adds.
Yet, despite all this instruction in "Britishness", might the child pick up what is termed cultural influence from the multicultural family he resides with in any case?
"Absolutely", said the CEO. "The family know this may not work, but they've just taken the view of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the education sector who share these reservations.
Peter Cui, chief executive of Blue Education, who supplies personal educators, wrote that "the process of embracing two identities, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
Peter explained that he had emigrated from the Far East to the Britain at the period of childhood, and had been educated knowing and embodying dual heritages. He progressed to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that a single person can act as a representation of Britishness, an individual who can possibly impart the characteristics of a English gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, appears optimistic and impractical," he commented.
"In my experience, employing a distinctly UK tutor from infancy will will not automatically achieve the outcome they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and yet I have been lucky enough to live several of the experiences they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, personal identity should not be dictated from the outside; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, Britishness is something Adam believes can be instructed – and marketed.
"I believe the fact that the world holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
