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"A household located in the northern part of London is looking for an exceptional and skilled instructor to assist their smallest child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."

Looking at this advertisement, you might easily miss the wording "first-steps" as mere an expression.

However, it could be the most significant element of this unique position posting, as it attempts to hire a teacher for a 12-month-old.

Numerous of responses have since been submitted since the unnamed family advertised their search for the highly paid tutor, who must be "someone very special".

During the past few weeks, the post has attracted notice throughout the media, with several wondering why?

Progressive Approach

Adam Caller, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their quest, stated that notwithstanding initial doubt, he found the idea "far sighted", and "innovative".

When he consulted the family, he said they appreciated the unusual nature of their demand, and how immature their son is.

Nevertheless, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already set in".

But what does the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?

It's "comprehensive", he responded. "How you eat, the manner you speak".

He explained the older sibling had adopted "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family explained to Adam they hoped to prevent the same situation to repeat itself with their younger child.

The plan: To bring in a British tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to guide the baby right from the beginning.

Osmotic Learning

"A lot of the education at the outset here is somewhat osmotic," said the CEO.

It's through this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will pick up the English characteristics they aim to instil.

Adam explained the tutor needed to be somebody who went to "the right kinds of schools – similar types 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, just naturally," he added.

Cost Not Relevant

The family told him the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in riding, winter sports, creative fields and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a wide range of hobbies.

Furthermore though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an instrument by the time they are around three years old".

In the family's perspective, assisting their son become a "UK sophisticate" will lead to success and open doors.

"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he comments.

However, in spite of all this guidance in "Britishness", would the child adopt alleged cultural influence from the multicultural family he is raised by anyway?

"Certainly", replied Adam. "The family know this could fail, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'we should try and we should start as early as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he stated.

Idealistic and Unrealistic

There are some in the private teaching field who have these concerns.

Peter Cui, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who provides private tutors, wrote that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."

He explained that he had relocated from the Far East to the UK at the time of seven, and had been brought up knowing and practicing both cultures. He continued to study at Cambridge University.

"The idea that one individual can serve as a representation of English culture, an individual who can somehow impart the attributes of a British gentleman to a 12-month-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unrealistic," he wrote.

"From my perspective, engaging a quintessentially English tutor from early childhood will does not instantly produce the goal they want.

"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to experience numerous of the opportunities they aspire for their son."

He stated: "The truth is, personal identity cannot be forced from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."

Acquiring Englishness

Naturally, English culture is something the CEO thinks can be taught – and sold.

"I believe the fact that the global community regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating