"A family based in north London is looking for an extraordinary and experienced instructor to support their smallest child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might readily miss the wording "first-steps" as just a turn of phrase.
However, it could be the most significant element of this unusual job advert, as it aims to find a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Many of applications have now been sent in since the anonymous family posted their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has gained interest in the media, with several questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their search, explained that notwithstanding first doubt, he considered the concept "visionary", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they recognized the atypical nature of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
But, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural influence had by then taken hold".
What precisely did the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", he replied. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He explained the older sibling had adopted "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family told him they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their new baby.
The intention: To engage a English tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the learning at the start here is kind of acquired indirectly," said the expert.
It's via this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will acquire the English characteristics they want to impart.
He said the tutor had to be an individual who studied at "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of passions.
Furthermore though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a range of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son become a "UK sophisticate" will bring about accomplishment and create opportunities.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he adds.
But, despite all this tutelage in "UK identity", might the child absorb what is termed cultural bias from the globally influenced family he resides with in any case?
"Absolutely", replied he. "They realize this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as soon as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he said.
Impractical
Several in the tutoring industry who share these concerns.
An education leader, chief executive of an educational organization, who provides individual instructors, wrote that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
The expert explained that he had relocated from the Far East to the Britain at the time of 7 years old, and had been raised knowing and living dual heritages. He continued to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that an individual can function as a living vessel of Britishness, someone who can in some way transfer the characteristics of a UK sophisticate to a infant child, strikes me as naive and unrealistic," he stated.
"Based on my background, having a typically English tutor from early childhood will not necessarily achieve the goal they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to enjoy many of the experiences they desire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, self-identity should not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, Britishness is something the CEO thinks can be educated – and sold.
"In my view the reality that the international society regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
