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"Parents located in the northern part of London wants to find an remarkable and experienced instructor to guide their smallest child on his first steps to growing into an British gentleman."

Looking at this advertisement, you might readily overlook the phrase "first-steps" as mere an expression.

However, it could be the most important element of this unique position posting, as it aims to hire a teacher for a infant.

Numerous of submissions have since been submitted since the anonymous family advertised their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".

Over the last few weeks, the advert has received notice in the media, with several asking why?

Progressive Approach

Adam Caller, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their hunt, said that notwithstanding initial scepticism, he considered the idea "forward-looking", and "progressive".

When he met the family, he said they recognized the unusual character of their request, and how young their son is.

But, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already set in".

What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural bias"?

It's "all-encompassing", he replied. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".

He said the older sibling had picked up "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family told the consultant they did not want history to happen again with their younger child.

The strategy: To engage a British tutor, who should speak with RP, to shape the baby right from the beginning.

Subtle Influence

"Much of the learning at the outset here is rather absorbed naturally," said the CEO.

It's by means of this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will acquire the English characteristics they wish to instil.

He said the tutor had to be someone who studied at "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".

"The instructor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he said.

Money No Object

The family informed Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or passion in equestrian activities, skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to influence the child in a wide range of passions.

More than that though, he said the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".

In the family's perspective, helping their son become a "British gentleman" will result in accomplishment and open doors.

"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he comments.

Yet, despite all this instruction in "UK identity", would the child pick up so-called cultural leaning from the multicultural family he is raised by anyway?

"Certainly", said Adam. "The parents realize this may not work, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'we should try and let's go as early as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he explained.

Idealistic and Unrealistic

There are some in the education sector who express similar concerns.

Peter Cui, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who provides private tutors, wrote that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."

He explained that he had moved from the Far East to the Britain at the age of 7 years old, and had been raised experiencing and embodying both cultures. He progressed to be educated at the University of Cambridge.

"The concept that a single person can serve as a representation of English culture, someone who can in some way impart the attributes of a British gentleman onto a one-year-old child, appears idealistic and unfeasible," he commented.

"In my experience, having a quintessentially British tutor from early childhood will not automatically create the outcome they want.

"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to live numerous of the opportunities they hope for their son."

He stated: "The fact is, cultural identity should not be forced from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."

Acquiring Englishness

Of course, Britishness is something the expert hopes can be instructed – and commercialized.

"I think the situation that the world views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating