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"A household residing in North London is looking for an exceptional and qualified instructor to assist their youngest child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."

Looking at this listing, you might readily skip the wording "initial stages" as just figurative language.

Yet, it might be the most important element of this unique job advert, as it aims to recruit a tutor for a infant.

Hundreds of applications have now been received since the anonymous family posted their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".

Over the last few weeks, the advert has gained notice across the press, with many wondering why?

Forward-Thinking Method

Adam Caller, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their quest, stated that in spite of initial skepticism, he viewed the plan "far sighted", and "progressive".

When he consulted the family, he mentioned they understood the atypical nature of their request, and how immature 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 already set in".

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

It's "comprehensive", he replied. "How you eat, the way you speak".

He said the firstborn had adopted "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family explained to Adam they hoped to prevent this pattern to repeat itself with their new baby.

The plan: To engage a UK tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby right from the beginning.

Osmotic Learning

"Much of the development at the outset here is rather osmotic," explained the expert.

It's via this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will pick up the English characteristics they wish to impart.

He noted the tutor needed to be an individual who attended "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".

"The educator simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.

Money No Object

The family explained to the expert the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to inspire the child in a wide range of hobbies.

More than that though, he said the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an instrument by the time they are around three years old".

In the family's perspective, guiding their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will result in success and open doors.

"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he adds.

Yet, despite all this instruction in "English culture", could the child pick up so-called cultural influence from the globally influenced family he is raised by anyway?

"Certainly", answered Adam. "The family realize this could fail, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as early as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he said.

Impractical

Several in the private teaching field who share those concerns.

An education leader, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who provides individual instructors, commented that "the development of becoming bicultural, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."

He explained that he had relocated from the Far East to the Britain at the period of 7 years old, and had been educated experiencing and embodying two backgrounds. He continued to study at Cambridge University.

"The concept that a single person can serve as a representation of English culture, someone who can possibly impart the attributes of a UK sophisticate to a 12-month-old child, seems to me naive and unfeasible," he stated.

"In my experience, having a quintessentially British tutor from early childhood will does not instantly create the result they desire.

"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and yet I have been lucky enough to experience many of the experiences they hope for their son."

He continued: "The reality is, cultural identity should not be imposed from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."

Acquiring Englishness

Naturally, English culture is something the CEO hopes can be educated – and marketed.

"In my view the fact that the world views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating