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"Parents located in north London seeks an exceptional and skilled tutor to guide their most junior child on his initial journey to turning into an British gentleman."

Looking at this post, you might readily overlook the phrase "first-steps" as mere an expression.

But, it could be the most important aspect of this unusual job advert, as it attempts to recruit a mentor for a 12-month-old.

Many of applications have since been submitted since the unnamed family advertised their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".

Over the last few weeks, the advert has received attention across the media, with several questioning why?

Forward-Thinking Method

A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their hunt, stated that despite early skepticism, he found the idea "far sighted", and "progressive".

When he met the family, he noted they appreciated the unconventional aspect of their demand, and how early in age their son is.

However, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already taken hold".

What precisely does the family indicate by "cultural bias"?

It's "all-encompassing", Adam replied. "The manner you eat, how you speak".

He explained the elder child had picked up "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family informed him they did not want history to repeat itself with their new baby.

The strategy: To hire a UK tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby right from the beginning.

Subtle Influence

"A lot of the development at the start here is somewhat acquired indirectly," said Adam.

It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will adopt the British traits they aim to impart.

Adam said the tutor had to be someone who studied at "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".

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

Expense Not a Factor

The family told him the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or passion in horse riding, winter sports, creative fields and musical activities so as to influence the child in a wide range of passions.

More than that though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a range of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an instrument by the time they are about three years old".

In the family's perspective, guiding their son become a "British gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and open doors.

"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he adds.

But, notwithstanding all this guidance in "English culture", could the child absorb what is termed cultural influence from the globally influenced family he resides with regardless?

"Yes", replied he. "They know this might not succeed, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he said.

Idealistic and Unrealistic

Several in the tutoring industry who express these reservations.

An education leader, head and founder of an educational organization, who provides personal educators, commented that "the process of becoming bicultural, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not designed."

He noted that he had relocated from Asia to the United Kingdom at the age of seven, and had been raised understanding and practicing dual heritages. He went on to be educated at Cambridge University.

"The concept that a single person can act as a embodiment of English culture, a person who can in some way transfer the attributes of a UK sophisticate to a 12-month-old child, seems to me idealistic and unrealistic," he stated.

"Based on my background, having a typically UK tutor from infancy will will not necessarily achieve the goal they want.

"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to live numerous of the experiences they desire for their son."

He added: "The reality is, self-identity should not be imposed from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."

Buying Britishness

Naturally, UK identity is something Adam thinks can be educated – and commercialized.

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