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"A family located in North London wants to find an extraordinary and qualified tutor to guide their youngest child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."

Upon seeing this post, you might readily skip the phrase "first-steps" as mere figurative language.

Yet, it may be the most significant part of this distinctive position posting, as it seeks to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.

Hundreds of submissions have now been sent in since the anonymous family published their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".

In recent few weeks, the listing has gained attention throughout the press, with numerous questioning why?

Innovative Idea

Adam Caller, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their hunt, stated that notwithstanding initial doubt, he viewed the concept "visionary", and "innovative".

When he met the family, he noted they understood the atypical nature of their demand, and how young their son is.

However, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already set in".

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

It's "all-encompassing", the expert answered. "How you eat, the manner you speak".

He said the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family told the consultant they hoped to prevent this pattern to repeat itself with their younger child.

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

Natural Absorption

"Much of the education at the beginning here is kind of absorbed naturally," explained Adam.

It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will acquire the English characteristics they want to impart.

The consultant said the tutor must be someone who went to "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".

"The instructor simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.

Money No Object

The family informed him the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or passion in horse riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a diverse set of interests.

Additionally though, he stated the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an instrument by the time they are about three years old".

In the family's minds, guiding their son grow into a "English gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and open doors.

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

However, in spite of all this tutelage in "Britishness", could the child adopt what is termed cultural influence from the multicultural family he resides with regardless?

"Absolutely", replied he. "They understand this may not work, but they've just taken the view of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he stated.

Idealistic and Unrealistic

There are some in the tutoring industry who have these doubts.

Peter Cui, chief executive of Blue Education, who also offer personal educators, commented that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."

He explained that he had moved from China to the Britain at the age of childhood, and had been raised understanding and practicing dual heritages. He continued to learn at a prestigious UK institution.

"The concept that a single person can act as a representation of English culture, an individual who can in some way transfer the characteristics of a UK sophisticate to a one-year-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unfeasible," he wrote.

"From my perspective, having a typically British tutor from babyhood will does not necessarily produce the outcome they want.

"I never had that kind of mentor, and yet I have been privileged enough to enjoy several of the situations they aspire for their son."

He stated: "The fact is, personal identity should not be imposed from the outside; it must be selected, and it must come from within."

Acquiring Englishness

Of course, UK identity is something the CEO believes can be educated – and sold.

"I believe the situation that the world holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating