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"Parents residing in North London wants to find an extraordinary and skilled tutor to assist their most junior child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."

Looking at this post, you might naturally miss the phrase "first-steps" as just a turn of phrase.

Yet, it could be the crucial element of this unusual job advert, as it aims to find a mentor for a 12-month-old.

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

During the past few weeks, the advert has gained interest throughout the media, with several wondering why?

Forward-Thinking Method

A tutoring expert, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their quest, explained that in spite of initial doubt, he viewed the concept "far sighted", and "advanced".

When he spoke with the family, he said they understood the atypical character of their request, and how immature their son is.

Nevertheless, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had by then become established".

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

It's "comprehensive", he responded. "How you eat, the manner you speak".

He stated the firstborn had picked up "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family informed Adam they did not want this pattern to recur with their younger child.

The intention: To bring in a British tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from day one.

Subtle Influence

"A great deal of the learning at the beginning here is somewhat acquired indirectly," said Adam.

It's via this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will pick up the British traits they want to instil.

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

"The educator just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he added.

Expense Not a Factor

The family told the expert the chosen tutor should preferably also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in horse riding, winter sports, creative fields and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of interests.

More than that though, he explained the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".

In the family's view, guiding their son grow into a "British gentleman" will result in success and provide access.

"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he comments.

But, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "UK identity", might the child adopt alleged cultural bias from the globally influenced family he lives with regardless?

"Certainly", replied the CEO. "The parents know this could fail, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he said.

Impractical

There are some in the tutoring industry who express those concerns.

Another CEO, chief executive of an educational organization, who supplies personal educators, commented that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."

Peter noted that he had emigrated from the Far East to the UK at the age of seven, and had been raised knowing and living two backgrounds. He went on to study at the University of Cambridge.

"The concept that one individual can serve as a representation of UK identity, someone who can in some way transplant the qualities of a UK sophisticate onto a one-year-old child, appears naive and unrealistic," he stated.

"In my experience, having a quintessentially English tutor from infancy will will not instantly achieve the outcome they desire.

"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to experience numerous of the opportunities they hope for their son."

He continued: "The reality is, self-identity should not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must come from within."

Acquiring Englishness

Naturally, English culture is something Adam believes can be taught – and sold.

"I believe the fact that the world views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating