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"Parents located in the northern part of London is looking for an exceptional and qualified instructor to assist their smallest child on his first steps to growing into an English gentleman."

When reading this listing, you might readily skip the phrase "beginning" as just figurative language.

Yet, it could be the most significant part of this unique job advert, as it aims to hire a mentor for a infant.

Hundreds of submissions have already been received since the unnamed family posted their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".

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

Progressive Approach

A tutoring expert, chief executive of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their hunt, stated that in spite of first skepticism, he considered the idea "far sighted", and "advanced".

When he spoke with the family, he noted they appreciated the unusual character of their demand, and how early in age their son is.

Nevertheless, they stated 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 stage "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".

What precisely did the family mean by "cultural bias"?

It's "everything", the expert answered. "How you eat, the way you speak".

He said the firstborn had absorbed "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family explained to Adam they wished to avoid history to repeat itself with their new baby.

The plan: To hire a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from day one.

Subtle Influence

"A lot of the education at the start here is kind of acquired indirectly," said the CEO.

It's via this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will acquire the English characteristics they want to instil.

He said the tutor needed to be someone who attended "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".

"The tutor must be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he said.

Cost Not Relevant

The family told him the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to influence the child in a wide range of hobbies.

Additionally though, he said the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an instrument by the time they are about three years old".

In the family's minds, guiding their son develop into a "British gentleman" will result in success and provide access.

"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he comments.

However, in spite of all this instruction in "Britishness", would the child pick up what is termed cultural influence from the globally influenced family he lives with in any case?

"Yes", said he. "They understand this could fail, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he stated.

Idealistic and Unrealistic

There are some in the private teaching field who share these reservations.

Another CEO, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer individual instructors, stated that "the development of becoming bicultural, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."

Peter wrote that he had moved from Asia to the United Kingdom at the age of 7 years old, and had been brought up understanding and living two backgrounds. He progressed to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.

"The concept that one individual can serve as a embodiment of English culture, a person who can in some way transfer the attributes of a UK sophisticate onto a 12-month-old child, seems to me naive and impractical," he stated.

"From my perspective, having a typically British tutor from early childhood will does not automatically create the result they desire.

"I never had that kind of mentor, and however I have been privileged enough to live several of the situations they hope for their son."

He continued: "The truth is, cultural identity cannot be dictated from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."

Buying Britishness

Certainly, Britishness is something the expert thinks can be taught – and marketed.

"In my view the reality that the international society holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating