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"A family located in North London is looking for an exceptional and skilled tutor to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."

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

But, it could be the most important aspect of this distinctive position posting, as it seeks to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.

Many of submissions have now been received since the anonymous family advertised their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".

During the past few weeks, the post has gained notice in the press, with numerous wondering why?

Progressive Approach

A tutoring expert, chief executive of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their search, explained that notwithstanding early doubt, he viewed the plan "far sighted", and "innovative".

When he consulted the family, he mentioned they recognized the atypical nature of their demand, and how young their son is.

Nevertheless, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already taken hold".

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

It's "all-encompassing", he answered. "How you eat, how you speak".

He explained the firstborn had absorbed "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family told Adam they did not want history to happen again with their infant.

The plan: To hire a British tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from the very start.

Subtle Influence

"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is kind of osmotic," explained Adam.

It's through this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will acquire the UK customs they aim to instil.

Adam said the tutor needed to be someone who studied at "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".

"The tutor must be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he added.

Money No Object

The family told the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of interests.

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

In the family's perspective, assisting their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will result in achievement and provide access.

"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he adds.

But, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "UK identity", might the child adopt so-called cultural bias from the globally influenced family he lives with in any case?

"Certainly", replied he. "The family understand this could fail, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he explained.

Overly Optimistic

Several in the education sector who express those reservations.

An education leader, chief executive of Blue Education, who provides individual instructors, wrote that "the process of embracing two identities, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."

He noted that he had relocated from the Far East to the UK at the age of childhood, and had been educated understanding and practicing dual heritages. He went on to learn at Cambridge University.

"The concept that one individual can function as a living vessel of UK identity, a person who can somehow impart the qualities of a English gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, strikes me as optimistic and impractical," he commented.

"In my experience, employing a quintessentially English tutor from early childhood will does not instantly achieve the outcome they hope for.

"I never had that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to experience many of the experiences they hope for their son."

He added: "The fact is, self-identity cannot be dictated from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."

Buying Britishness

Certainly, English culture is something the CEO hopes can be instructed – and sold.

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