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"Parents based in north London seeks an remarkable and qualified instructor to support their smallest child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."

When reading this post, you might easily overlook the term "beginning" as mere an expression.

Yet, it may be the most significant part of this unusual employment listing, as it aims to find a tutor for a 12-month-old.

Hundreds of applications have since been submitted since the unnamed family advertised their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".

Over the last few weeks, the listing has received attention in the news, with numerous asking why?

Innovative Idea

Adam Caller, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their quest, explained that despite initial scepticism, he considered the plan "far sighted", and "progressive".

When he met the family, he said they appreciated the unconventional nature of their request, and how young their son is.

However, they stated 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 influence had by then become established".

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

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

He stated the firstborn had adopted "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family told the consultant they wished to avoid history to recur with their younger child.

The plan: To bring in a English tutor, who must speak with RP, to influence the baby right from the beginning.

Subtle Influence

"A great deal of the education at the outset here is somewhat acquired indirectly," explained the CEO.

It's via this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will pick up the British traits they want to cultivate.

He explained the tutor had to be somebody who attended "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".

"The tutor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.

Expense Not a Factor

The family told him the selected educator should preferably also have understanding of or enthusiasm in horse riding, winter sports, the arts and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a wide range of interests.

Furthermore though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".

In the family's view, helping their son grow into a "English gentleman" will bring about achievement and provide access.

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

Yet, notwithstanding all this instruction in "UK identity", might the child pick up so-called cultural leaning from the international family he resides with in any case?

"Certainly", said he. "The family know this could fail, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as soon as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he stated.

Idealistic and Unrealistic

A number of in the tutoring industry who have similar reservations.

An education leader, chief executive of an educational organization, who provides individual instructors, wrote that "the journey of embracing two identities, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."

He wrote that he had moved from China to the Britain at the time of 7 years old, and had been brought up experiencing and embodying two backgrounds. He went on to be educated at the University of Cambridge.

"The idea that one individual can act as a representation of English culture, a person who can in some way transfer the attributes of a British gentleman onto a one-year-old child, appears idealistic and impractical," he commented.

"Based on my background, employing a distinctly British tutor from infancy will will not instantly produce the goal they desire.

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

He stated: "The reality is, cultural identity should not be forced from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."

Buying Britishness

Of course, English culture is something the CEO thinks can be educated – and sold.

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