For teachers, education is about far more than academic achievement. Every day, schools strive to develop young people who are resilient, confident, adaptable, and ready to navigate an increasingly complex world.
While classrooms provide the foundation for learning, some of the most transformative lessons happen beyond the school gates.
The Young Endeavour Youth Scheme offers one such opportunity, taking Australians aged 16–23 on an 11-day sail training voyage that combines adventure with leadership, teamwork, and personal development.
Few people understand the connection between education and experiential learning better than Mr Matthew Smyth.
A former educator who now works with the Young Endeavour Youth Scheme, Mr Smyth has seen firsthand how the skills developed at sea complement those fostered in schools.
“Even though classroom learning largely focuses on subject outcomes, the majority of teachers are also mindful of their role in supporting personal development,” Mr Smyth said.
“They look for opportunities to demonstrate and help students reflect on personal characteristics such as respectful values, positive mindsets, supportive relationships, leadership, and effective teamwork.
“Voyages in STS Young Endeavour promote personal growth in these and other areas – with the opportunity to make these our complete focus, without the competing demands of subject-related outcomes,” Mr Smyth said.
Unlike traditional classroom settings, youth who participate in a Young Endeavour voyage are immersed in an environment where they work together around the clock.
They learn to sail a square-rigged tall ship, rotate through leadership roles and solve real challenges as a team, all while living alongside people they have only just met.
According to Mr Smyth, the greatest outcome isn’t learning to sail—it’s learning to believe in yourself.
“I think young people need to believe that they are capable of meeting their challenges, whether in education, the workforce, or even within families,” he said.
“On a voyage, they have opportunities within a supportive team to test themselves, and, perhaps even surprise themselves with what they are able to accomplish,” Mr Smyth said.
“They leave the ship having proven to themselves that, with support, they have the resilience and the problem-solving capabilities needed to find positive paths through difficult circumstances and, stay on top of their responsibilities,” he said.
Those moments of self-discovery are often what leave the strongest impression.
Mr Smyth recalls one participant who initially lacked the confidence to take on a leadership opportunity.
“One youth crew member said she ‘would like to have tried practicing as a watch leader’, as some others had done earlier that day; she said that she ‘didn’t feel confident enough to put herself forward for the opportunity’ because felt she ‘wasn’t learning things as fast as several other team members’,” Mr Smyth said.
“I encouraged her to back herself next time and ask to have a go; not doing so would be a missed opportunity to surprise herself.”
Mr Smyth’s encouragement paid off.
“When she did make that request the following day, I quietly high-fived her and encouraged her to stick with it even if she didn’t lead perfectly. She backed herself so much more for the remainder of the voyage, even nominating for an elected role in the youth crew leadership team for Command Day.”
While she was not elected, Mr Smyth says that didn’t diminish the significance of her personal growth.
“It was fantastic to see her journey unfold, particularly that she retained her new-found confidence even though she wasn’t elected. At the end of the voyage she said that this change was her highlight and was something that she’d take home with her.”
For educators increasingly concerned about student wellbeing, Mr Smyth believes experiences like the Young Endeavour Youth Scheme are especially valuable in today’s environment.
“Although every young person is different and has different circumstances, they all live in a rapidly changing world with major environmental and economic concerns, so their futures can seem uncertain or even bleak,” he said.
“Many struggle with anxiety or social pressure that is created or exacerbated by news feeds and social media.”
Away from constant notifications and digital distractions, participants experience something many young people rarely do—a chance to disconnect and be fully present in the moment.
“The simplicity of life on a voyage provides a chance to escape, reflect, and possibly reset,” Mr Smyth said.
“The connections with shipmates are face-to-face and very real for days on end; the successes and mistakes are tangible, insights are gained from having to work through challenges with other imperfect people within an imperfect – yet supportive – team that meets as a group of strangers who learn together,” he said.
Mr Smyth believes these shared experiences create lessons that last well beyond the voyage itself.
“There is a wholeness in these experiences, like a live concert instead of a recording; they impact in ways that stay with people after their voyages,” he said.
“Participants often head home seeing their circumstances more realistically and positively because they’ve had a chance to filter out the noise, and see more of what is real in relationships, what is good in life, what is worth paying attention to, and what should be ignored.”
Having worked both as a camp facilitator and as a teacher, Mr Smyth sees sail training as a uniquely effective form of experiential education.
“Many teachers take their students on outdoor adventure camps, knowing from experience that well-run programs do provide effective opportunities for these types of personal development,” he said.
“Through my own insights from years as a camp facilitator and a high school teacher I have developed a great belief that multi-day ocean-going sail training is an awesome context for adventure-based youth development because it inherently provides the full mix of ‘ingredients’ for effective learning,” he said.
“We support hundreds of young people each year, and those who do come aboard have quality opportunities to push themselves, reflect and grow.”
For schools looking to broaden the horizons of their senior students, Mr Smyth has a simple request.
“Given that I value the opportunities for growth and the great experiences and memories that every voyage provides, I’d encourage teachers to mention us where they can to their seniors,” he said.
“Perhaps at an assembly, or in home-room announcements, or via a school newsletter, potentially sticking up a Young Endeavour Youth Scheme information poster on a notice board, or when speaking with students who might especially benefit from a voyage program,” he said.
“The program is open to young Australians aged 16 to 23 years, so hearing about us at school might even open the door to joining a voyage in the following years.”
For Mr Smyth, seeing young Australians grow in confidence, resilience and leadership is what makes the role worthwhile.
“I love my job because I love seeing the benefit to the youth who participate in each voyage,” he said.
For teachers, the message is equally clear.
While schools lay the academic foundations for success, opportunities like the Young Endeavour Youth Scheme can help students discover capabilities they never knew they had—lessons that continue to shape them long after they return to shore.
