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"Parents located in North London seeks an exceptional and experienced educator to guide their most junior child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."

When reading this post, you might naturally skip the phrase "beginning" as mere figurative language.

But, it could be the most significant element of this unique position posting, as it seeks to recruit a teacher for a 12-month-old.

Hundreds of submissions have since been sent in since the anonymous family advertised their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".

During the past few weeks, the advert has attracted interest across the press, with numerous wondering why?

Innovative Idea

The CEO, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their search, said that despite early skepticism, he considered the idea "far sighted", and "innovative".

When he consulted the family, he mentioned they recognized the unconventional aspect of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.

But, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already set in".

But what did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?

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

He said the firstborn had adopted "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family informed the consultant they hoped to prevent this pattern to repeat itself with their younger child.

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

Subtle Influence

"A lot of the development at the outset here is kind of absorbed naturally," said the expert.

It's via this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will acquire the British traits they want to impart.

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

"The educator must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he added.

Money No Object

The family explained to him the chosen tutor should preferably also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to influence the child in a diverse set of passions.

Furthermore though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are around three years old".

In the family's perspective, helping their son grow into a "British gentleman" will lead to achievement and create opportunities.

"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he notes.

However, despite all this tutelage in "Britishness", could the child pick up so-called cultural influence from the international family he lives with anyway?

"Absolutely", answered he. "The family understand this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'we should try and let's go as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he stated.

Impractical

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

Another CEO, chief executive of a tutoring service, who provides private tutors, stated that "the development of embracing two identities, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."

The expert explained that he had relocated from the Far East to the Britain at the time of seven, and had been educated experiencing and embodying both cultures. He progressed to study at Cambridge University.

"The concept that an individual can serve as a representation of UK identity, someone who can in some way transplant the qualities of a English gentleman onto a one-year-old child, appears optimistic and unfeasible," he wrote.

"Based on my background, employing a typically British tutor from early childhood will does not automatically produce the outcome they want.

"I never had such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to live many of the situations they hope for their son."

He stated: "The fact is, cultural identity can not be dictated from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."

Buying Britishness

Certainly, UK identity is something Adam thinks can be instructed – and commercialized.

"I think the situation that the global community regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating