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

Looking at this advertisement, you might easily overlook the phrase "beginning" as simple figurative language.

But, it could be the most important element of this distinctive employment listing, as it attempts to find a mentor for a one-year-old.

Hundreds of submissions have since been sent in since the unnamed family posted their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".

During the past few weeks, the advert has gained notice across the media, with many wondering why?

Innovative Idea

Adam Caller, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their quest, said that notwithstanding first doubt, he viewed the concept "forward-looking", and "innovative".

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

Nevertheless, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had by then taken hold".

But what did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?

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

He said the elder child had adopted "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family explained to Adam they did not want history to repeat itself with their new baby.

The plan: To hire a British tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby right from the beginning.

Osmotic Learning

"Much of the learning at the beginning here is somewhat osmotic," said the CEO.

It's via this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will adopt the UK customs they want to impart.

The consultant noted the tutor must be somebody who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".

"The instructor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he said.

Cost Not Relevant

The family told him the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in equestrian activities, winter sports, creative fields and music so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of passions.

Furthermore though, he said the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".

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

"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he adds.

Yet, notwithstanding all this instruction in "Britishness", might the child pick up what is termed cultural influence from the multicultural family he resides with anyway?

"Absolutely", replied the CEO. "The parents understand this could fail, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he said.

Impractical

Several in the tutoring industry who express those reservations.

An education leader, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who also offer personal educators, commented that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."

He wrote that he had moved from China to the UK at the time of 7 years old, and had been educated understanding and practicing both cultures. He went on to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.

"The concept that one individual can act as a embodiment of UK identity, an individual who can possibly transfer the attributes of a British gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, seems to me optimistic and unfeasible," he stated.

"Based on my background, having a typically British tutor from infancy will will not automatically produce the outcome they want.

"I never had that kind of mentor, and however I have been fortunate enough to experience numerous of the opportunities they aspire for their son."

He continued: "The reality is, cultural identity can not be forced from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."

Buying Britishness

Naturally, UK identity is something Adam hopes can be educated – and commercialized.

"In my view the reality that the world regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating