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"A household located in north London is looking for an exceptional and experienced instructor to guide their youngest child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."

When reading this post, you might readily miss the term "beginning" as just an expression.

However, it might be the crucial part of this unique position posting, as it aims to recruit a mentor for a 12-month-old.

Hundreds of applications have already been received since the anonymous family advertised their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".

In recent few weeks, the listing has gained interest throughout the media, with several wondering why?

Progressive Approach

Adam Caller, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their hunt, explained that notwithstanding initial doubt, he found the concept "forward-looking", and "advanced".

When he consulted the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unconventional nature of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.

However, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had by then become established".

What exactly did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?

It's "everything", he responded. "The way you eat, the way you speak".

He stated the elder child had absorbed "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family informed the consultant they did not want this pattern to repeat itself with their younger child.

The intention: To engage a UK tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from the very start.

Natural Absorption

"A great deal of the education at the beginning here is somewhat absorbed naturally," stated the expert.

It's through this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will adopt the English characteristics they wish to impart.

The consultant said the tutor needed to be somebody who went to "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".

"The educator must be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he added.

Money No Object

The family told Adam the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a diverse set of passions.

Additionally though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an instrument by the time they are around three years old".

In the family's perspective, guiding their son become a "British gentleman" will bring about achievement and open doors.

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

However, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "Britishness", might the child adopt what is termed cultural influence from the international family he resides with in any case?

"Yes", answered the CEO. "The parents realize this may not work, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'we should try and let's go as soon as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he stated.

Idealistic and Unrealistic

A number of in the private teaching field who share these reservations.

Peter Cui, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who also offer individual instructors, stated that "the process of becoming bicultural, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."

Peter wrote that he had emigrated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the period of childhood, and had been brought up experiencing and practicing two backgrounds. He progressed to learn at Cambridge University.

"The notion that a single person can act as a embodiment of UK identity, someone who can somehow impart the qualities of a English gentleman to a one-year-old child, seems to me naive and unfeasible," he stated.

"Based on my background, employing a distinctly UK tutor from early childhood will does not necessarily produce the outcome they hope for.

"I did not have such a figure, and yet I have been lucky enough to enjoy many of the opportunities they hope for their son."

He stated: "The fact is, personal identity cannot be dictated from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."

Acquiring Englishness

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

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