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"Parents located in north London seeks an exceptional and experienced instructor to guide their most junior child on his initial journey to turning into an British gentleman."

Looking at this listing, you might readily miss the wording "first-steps" as just an expression.

Yet, it could be the most important element of this distinctive position posting, as it attempts to hire a teacher for a 12-month-old.

Hundreds of submissions have since been sent in since the anonymous family advertised their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".

Over the last few weeks, the post has attracted attention throughout the news, with several asking why?

Forward-Thinking Method

A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, explained that notwithstanding initial skepticism, he viewed the idea "forward-looking", and "advanced".

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

But, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already set in".

What precisely did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?

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

He said the elder child had absorbed "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family told him they wished to avoid this pattern to happen again with their younger child.

The intention: To hire a British tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby right from the beginning.

Natural Absorption

"A great deal of the education at the outset here is rather osmotic," explained Adam.

It's via this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will acquire the British traits they want to cultivate.

Adam explained the tutor had 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 educator simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he said.

Cost Not Relevant

The family explained to Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of hobbies.

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

In the family's view, guiding their son become a "British gentleman" will lead to success and provide access.

"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he adds.

But, despite all this tutelage in "Britishness", would the child absorb what is termed cultural bias from the globally influenced family he is raised by regardless?

"Absolutely", said Adam. "The family understand this could fail, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'we should try and let's go as early as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he explained.

Impractical

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

An education leader, head and founder of Blue Education, who provides individual instructors, wrote that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."

Peter noted that he had moved from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the period of childhood, and had been educated knowing and embodying dual heritages. He went on to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.

"The concept that an individual can serve as a representation of English culture, an individual who can in some way transfer the attributes of a English gentleman upon a one-year-old child, seems to me optimistic and unrealistic," he wrote.

"Based on my background, employing a typically British tutor from early childhood will will not instantly achieve the result they hope for.

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

He added: "The fact is, cultural identity can not be imposed from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."

Acquiring Englishness

Certainly, UK identity is something Adam thinks can be instructed – and marketed.

"I believe the reality that the international society views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating