Business sector: Consultancy
Language(s) supported: French and German
MAX Conflict Management offers practical conflict management
consultancy and training for businesses, educational
institutions, the health service, councils, charities and the third
sector. Their aim is to minimise conflict and
MAXimise personal safety and their range of courses include
anti-bullying, anger management and assertiveness. MAX Conflict
Management was shortlisted for a 2009 BLC award.
Summary of engagement
Mark Wingfield from MAX Conflict Management has
successfully supported a number of schools and projects to engage
students in multilingual self-defense workshops in either French or
German.
Objectives of employer engagement:
- To show young people that they can achieve
more, in terms of life experiences, travel and career prospects,
with a competency in another language.
- To emphasise that careers are not limited to
those commonly associated with languages, such as teaching,
translating or interpreting.
Engagement activities:
- Mark provides some background on how he has
developed a career in export sales and marketing and ultimately set
up a business with languages at its core.
- Mark explains that you don’t have to be
perfect at languages to hold down a great job. Mark uses his
“imperfect” French to demonstrate the communication benefits that
arise from even a basic level of language knowledge.
- Students get involved in the presentations
from the start and are invited to share their fears and dreams of
using languages. Minds are opened to the variety and opportunity
that languages can bring.
Impact on school and
students
Feedback from schools suggest that GCSE
uptake has either improved or performed well compared to national
averages following Mark’s visits.
Quotes:
“Mark did an excellent workshop on
the use of assertiveness techniques for conflict-solving in the
context of motivational aspects in foreign language learning.” Karl
Pfeiffer, Director of Education Links, Goethe Institute
“We all found Mark’s talk interesting and inspiring. The pupils
will certainly have got the message on the important role that
languages can play in their future careers.” Teacher at South Wolds
School
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