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"A family based in the northern part of London wants to find an exceptional and experienced educator to support their smallest child on his first steps to becoming an British gentleman."

Looking at this advertisement, you might naturally skip the wording "first-steps" as just figurative language.

But, it may be the most significant element of this unusual job advert, as it seeks to recruit a mentor for a infant.

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

During the past few weeks, the post has attracted notice in the press, with numerous questioning why?

Forward-Thinking Method

A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their quest, stated that in spite of initial scepticism, he found the concept "far sighted", and "progressive".

When he consulted the family, he said they understood the unusual character of their demand, and how young their son is.

However, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already become established".

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

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

He explained the older sibling had picked up "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family explained to Adam they wished to avoid this pattern to recur with their new baby.

The strategy: To bring in a British tutor, who must speak with RP, to shape the baby from the very start.

Osmotic Learning

"A great deal of the development at the beginning here is somewhat absorbed naturally," explained the CEO.

It's via this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will adopt the British traits they want to instil.

He explained the tutor had to be an individual who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".

"The educator just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he added.

Expense Not a Factor

The family informed Adam the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to influence the child in a diverse set of interests.

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

In the family's minds, helping their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about achievement and create opportunities.

"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he notes.

But, despite all this guidance in "UK identity", might the child pick up so-called cultural leaning from the multicultural family he resides with in any case?

"Yes", replied the CEO. "The family realize this could fail, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'we should try and let's go as quickly as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he said.

Impractical

There are some in the private teaching field who have those reservations.

Another CEO, chief executive of a tutoring service, who provides individual instructors, commented that "the process of embracing two identities, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."

Peter noted that he had emigrated from Asia to the United Kingdom at the time of 7 years old, and had been educated knowing and embodying two backgrounds. He progressed to study at the University of Cambridge.

"The notion that a single person can serve as a living vessel of English culture, an individual who can somehow impart the attributes of a British gentleman upon a infant child, appears optimistic and unfeasible," he wrote.

"In my experience, having a distinctly British tutor from infancy will does not instantly produce the outcome they desire.

"I did not have that kind of mentor, and yet I have been privileged enough to live numerous of the situations they desire for their son."

He stated: "The fact is, cultural identity should not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."

Buying Britishness

Of course, Britishness is something Adam believes can be educated – and marketed.

"I think the reality that the global community views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating