"Parents residing in north London is looking for an extraordinary and qualified educator to assist their youngest child on his early path to turning into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might easily skip the wording "first-steps" as simple a turn of phrase.
Yet, it might be the most significant element of this unusual job advert, as it seeks to recruit a teacher for a infant.
Many of responses have already been sent in since the unidentified family posted their search for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the post has attracted notice throughout the press, with several questioning why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, chief executive of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their quest, explained that notwithstanding first scepticism, he found the idea "visionary", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they understood the atypical nature of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
However, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already set in".
What exactly does the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam responded. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He stated the elder child had picked up "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family explained to Adam they wished to avoid this pattern to repeat itself with their new baby.
The strategy: To hire a English tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the education at the outset here is rather osmotic," said the expert.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will acquire the English characteristics they wish to instil.
The consultant said the tutor must be someone who studied at "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told him the chosen tutor should preferably also have understanding of or passion in horse riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
More than that though, he said the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about accomplishment and open doors.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he comments.
Yet, despite all this guidance in "English culture", might the child adopt alleged cultural leaning from the multicultural family he resides with anyway?
"Absolutely", said Adam. "The parents understand this might not succeed, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'we should try and we should start as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the private teaching field who express those concerns.
Peter Cui, chief executive of an educational organization, who provides private tutors, wrote that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
The expert noted that he had moved from China to the United Kingdom at the time of 7 years old, and had been educated knowing and living dual heritages. He continued to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that a single person can serve as a embodiment of Britishness, someone who can possibly transfer the qualities of a English gentleman to a infant child, strikes me as optimistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"In my experience, employing a quintessentially British tutor from early childhood will does not automatically achieve the result they want.
"I never had such a figure, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to experience several of the situations they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, self-identity can not be forced from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, English culture is something Adam hopes can be instructed – and sold.
"I think the fact that the international society regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
