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"Parents based in north London wants to find an remarkable and qualified tutor to support their smallest child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."

Upon seeing this post, you might naturally miss the phrase "initial stages" as simple an expression.

However, it might be the crucial aspect of this unique position posting, as it seeks to hire a teacher for a 12-month-old.

Many of responses have already been submitted since the unnamed family posted their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "someone very special".

In recent few weeks, the advert has gained notice across the press, with many wondering why?

Innovative Idea

A tutoring expert, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their hunt, explained that notwithstanding initial scepticism, he viewed the idea "forward-looking", and "progressive".

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

However, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural bias had by then taken hold".

But what did the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?

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

He explained the firstborn had adopted "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family informed him they wished to avoid history to recur with their infant.

The strategy: To bring in a UK tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from the very start.

Osmotic Learning

"A lot of the education at the beginning here is rather acquired indirectly," explained the CEO.

It's through this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will acquire the British traits they aim to instil.

The consultant explained the tutor needed to be somebody who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".

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

Money No Object

The family told the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or passion in equestrian activities, winter sports, creative fields and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of passions.

Furthermore though, he said the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".

In the family's perspective, guiding their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about achievement and open doors.

"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he adds.

However, in spite of all this instruction in "UK identity", would the child adopt what is termed cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he resides with regardless?

"Yes", said the CEO. "The parents understand this could fail, but they've just taken the view of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he explained.

Impractical

There are some in the tutoring industry who have these reservations.

Peter Cui, chief executive of Blue Education, who provides personal educators, commented that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not designed."

Peter explained that he had emigrated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the age of childhood, and had been raised understanding and embodying both cultures. He continued to learn at the University of Cambridge.

"The idea that one individual can serve as a representation of English culture, an individual who can somehow transplant the qualities of a English gentleman to a one-year-old child, appears optimistic and impractical," he stated.

"From my perspective, having a quintessentially English tutor from early childhood will not necessarily create the outcome they hope for.

"I did not have that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to enjoy several of the experiences they hope for their son."

He added: "The truth is, cultural identity should not be dictated from the outside; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."

Buying Britishness

Naturally, English culture is something the expert believes can be educated – and sold.

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