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"Parents located in the northern part of London is looking for an exceptional and experienced instructor to assist their most junior child on his first steps to becoming an British gentleman."

Upon seeing this advertisement, you might easily miss the term "initial stages" as simple a turn of phrase.

Yet, it could be the most important part of this unusual employment listing, as it seeks to hire a teacher for a 12-month-old.

Many of responses have already been submitted since the unidentified family advertised their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".

Over the last few weeks, the post has attracted attention throughout the media, with several wondering why?

Progressive Approach

Adam Caller, head and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their hunt, explained that notwithstanding early skepticism, he considered the plan "forward-looking", and "advanced".

When he consulted the family, he noted they understood the unconventional aspect of their demand, and how early in age their son is.

Nevertheless, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural influence had already set in".

What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?

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

He said the firstborn had absorbed "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family informed Adam they wished to avoid this pattern to recur with their new baby.

The intention: To bring in a English tutor, who should speak with RP, to shape the baby from the very start.

Subtle Influence

"Much of the development at the beginning here is somewhat osmotic," stated the expert.

It's through this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will adopt the English characteristics they want to cultivate.

He noted the tutor must be somebody who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".

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

Money No Object

The family told the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, the arts and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of passions.

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

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

"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he comments.

But, in spite of all this guidance in "UK identity", might the child absorb so-called cultural bias from the multicultural family he lives with anyway?

"Certainly", answered he. "The family realize this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'we should try and let's go as soon as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he stated.

Overly Optimistic

There are some in the private teaching field who express similar concerns.

An education leader, head and founder of an educational organization, who supplies private tutors, stated that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."

The expert wrote that he had relocated from Asia to the UK at the period of 7 years old, and had been raised knowing and embodying both cultures. He progressed to study at the University of Cambridge.

"The notion that one individual can serve as a representation of English culture, an individual who can in some way transplant the attributes of a UK sophisticate onto a 12-month-old child, appears naive and unrealistic," he stated.

"Based on my background, having a quintessentially British tutor from infancy will not automatically create the goal they want.

"I never had such a figure, and yet I have been privileged enough to live several of the opportunities they desire for their son."

He stated: "The reality is, self-identity can not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."

Acquiring Englishness

Certainly, Britishness is something the expert hopes can be taught – and sold.

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