"Parents located in the northern part of London is looking for an remarkable and qualified tutor to assist their most junior child on his early path to growing into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might naturally skip the wording "first-steps" as just a turn of phrase.
However, it could be the most significant aspect of this unusual position posting, as it seeks to recruit a teacher for a one-year-old.
Many of responses have since been submitted since the unidentified family posted their search for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has attracted attention across the media, with many asking why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their quest, stated that despite initial scepticism, he found the concept "visionary", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he mentioned they recognized the atypical aspect of their requirement, and how young their son is.
However, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", Adam responded. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the older sibling had absorbed "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family explained to him they wished to avoid this pattern to recur with their new baby.
The plan: To bring in a British tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the development at the start here is somewhat absorbed naturally," said the expert.
It's via this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will acquire the British traits they aim to impart.
He explained the tutor must be an individual who attended "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Money No Object
The family explained to him the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in riding, winter sports, the arts and music so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
More than that though, he said the family desired the tutor to register the child on a range of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about success and open doors.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he adds.
Yet, in spite of all this tutelage in "Britishness", could the child absorb so-called cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he lives with in any case?
"Absolutely", said he. "The parents realize this could fail, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the private teaching field who share these reservations.
Another CEO, chief executive of an educational organization, who also offer private tutors, commented that "the journey of embracing two identities, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
He wrote that he had emigrated from Asia to the UK at the period of seven, and had been educated knowing and embodying two backgrounds. He went on to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that a single person can function as a representation of English culture, someone who can possibly transplant the characteristics of a UK sophisticate onto a one-year-old child, appears idealistic and impractical," he wrote.
"From my perspective, engaging a quintessentially UK tutor from early childhood will not instantly create the outcome they desire.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to experience several of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, cultural identity can not be dictated from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, UK identity is something the CEO hopes can be taught – and marketed.
"In my view the fact that the global community holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
