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"Parents residing in north London seeks an extraordinary and skilled tutor to support their youngest child on his early path to becoming an British gentleman."

Upon seeing this advertisement, you might naturally overlook the phrase "initial stages" as just a turn of phrase.

However, it could be the most significant part of this distinctive position posting, as it seeks to find a tutor for a 12-month-old.

Many of applications have now been received since the unidentified family advertised their request for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".

In recent few weeks, the post has received attention throughout the press, with several asking why?

Innovative Idea

A tutoring expert, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their quest, said that notwithstanding early scepticism, he considered the idea "forward-looking", and "innovative".

When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they recognized the unconventional character of their demand, and how young their son is.

Nevertheless, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had by then set in".

But what did the family mean by "cultural bias"?

It's "everything", he responded. "How you eat, how you speak".

He explained the elder child had adopted "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family explained to him they hoped to prevent the same situation to recur with their younger child.

The strategy: To engage a UK tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from day one.

Osmotic Learning

"A great deal of the education at the start here is somewhat osmotic," said the expert.

It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will acquire the English characteristics they aim to instil.

The consultant said the tutor must be an individual who attended "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".

"The educator just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he commented.

Cost Not Relevant

The family explained to the expert the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a wide range of interests.

More than that though, he said the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an tool by the time they are around three years old".

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

"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he notes.

Yet, notwithstanding all this guidance in "English culture", might the child absorb what is termed cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he is raised by anyway?

"Certainly", replied Adam. "They realize this could fail, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he said.

Impractical

Several in the tutoring industry who express those doubts.

Another CEO, head and founder of an educational organization, who supplies personal educators, wrote that "the journey of embracing two identities, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."

Peter noted that he had relocated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the time of childhood, and had been brought up knowing and practicing dual heritages. He progressed to learn at a prestigious UK institution.

"The idea that a single person can function as a living vessel of English culture, a person who can in some way transplant the qualities of a UK sophisticate upon a 12-month-old child, appears optimistic and unfeasible," he wrote.

"Based on my background, employing a distinctly British tutor from infancy will will not automatically produce the result they desire.

"I did not have that kind of mentor, and however I have been fortunate enough to experience many of the opportunities they aspire for their son."

He continued: "The truth is, personal identity can not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."

Acquiring Englishness

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

"I think the reality that the world views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating