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"A household based in north London seeks an exceptional and experienced instructor to guide their youngest child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."

Upon seeing this listing, you might easily skip the phrase "beginning" as just an expression.

Yet, it might be the most significant aspect of this unique position posting, as it seeks to hire a mentor for a one-year-old.

Many of submissions have since been submitted since the unidentified family advertised their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".

During the past few weeks, the advert has received attention in the press, with numerous asking why?

Innovative Idea

A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their quest, stated that notwithstanding initial scepticism, he viewed the concept "far sighted", and "innovative".

When he consulted the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unconventional aspect of their demand, and how immature their son is.

But, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already become established".

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

It's "all-encompassing", Adam answered. "The way you eat, the way you speak".

He said the older sibling had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family explained to the consultant they wished to avoid the same situation to recur with their younger child.

The plan: To bring in a English tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to shape the baby from the very start.

Subtle Influence

"A great deal of the education at the start here is rather acquired indirectly," said the CEO.

It's via this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will pick up the English characteristics they aim to impart.

Adam said the tutor must be an individual who went to "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".

"The educator simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he said.

Cost Not Relevant

The family explained to the expert the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in riding, winter sports, creative fields and musical activities so as to shape the child in a wide range of hobbies.

More than that though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".

In the family's perspective, guiding their son grow into a "English gentleman" will lead to success and create opportunities.

"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he comments.

But, despite all this guidance in "UK identity", could the child pick up so-called cultural bias from the international family he resides with in any case?

"Certainly", said he. "The family know this may not work, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as soon as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he said.

Impractical

There are some in the tutoring industry who express those doubts.

Another CEO, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who also offer individual instructors, commented that "the development of embracing two identities, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."

He noted that he had emigrated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the time of seven, and had been educated understanding and living two backgrounds. He continued to be educated at the University of Cambridge.

"The notion that one individual can act as a representation of English culture, someone who can somehow transplant the characteristics of a British gentleman onto a infant child, strikes me as idealistic and unrealistic," he stated.

"From my perspective, engaging a quintessentially British tutor from babyhood will does not automatically produce the outcome they desire.

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

He added: "The fact is, personal identity cannot be imposed from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."

Acquiring Englishness

Naturally, Britishness is something the CEO thinks can be educated – and commercialized.

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