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"A household located in the northern part of London seeks an extraordinary and skilled educator to assist their youngest child on his initial journey to growing into an English gentleman."

When reading this listing, you might naturally overlook the wording "first-steps" as just figurative language.

But, it might be the most important element of this distinctive position posting, as it aims to recruit a mentor for a 12-month-old.

Hundreds of applications have now been sent in since the anonymous family posted their request for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".

Over the last few weeks, the advert has received interest across the press, with numerous asking why?

Innovative Idea

A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their hunt, said that notwithstanding initial skepticism, he considered the concept "visionary", and "advanced".

When he met the family, he said they understood the unconventional character of their requirement, and how immature their son is.

But, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already taken hold".

What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural bias"?

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

He explained the older sibling had absorbed "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family told the consultant they did not want this pattern to repeat itself with their new baby.

The strategy: To engage a English tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby right from the beginning.

Subtle Influence

"Much of the development at the beginning here is kind of absorbed naturally," explained the CEO.

It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will adopt the UK customs they wish to impart.

Adam explained the tutor must be an individual who attended "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".

"The instructor simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he said.

Money No Object

The family informed him the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a wide range of passions.

Additionally though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a range of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".

In the family's view, helping their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about achievement and provide access.

"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he notes.

Yet, in spite of all this guidance in "UK identity", could the child pick up what is termed cultural influence from the international family he lives with regardless?

"Certainly", said Adam. "The parents understand this may not work, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'we should try and let's go as early as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he explained.

Idealistic and Unrealistic

There are some in the education sector who express those doubts.

Another CEO, chief executive of an educational organization, who provides personal educators, wrote that "the development of embracing two identities, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not designed."

The expert wrote that he had emigrated from the Far East to the UK at the time of seven, and had been educated understanding and embodying both cultures. He went on to study at Cambridge University.

"The concept that a single person can serve as a embodiment of English culture, an individual who can possibly transfer the qualities of a English gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, strikes me as naive and unfeasible," he stated.

"In my experience, engaging a typically British tutor from early childhood will not automatically achieve the goal they want.

"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to live several of the opportunities they desire for their son."

He added: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be imposed from the outside; it must be selected, and it must come from within."

Purchasing UK Culture

Certainly, English culture is something Adam believes can be instructed – and marketed.

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