“The Process of young people growing up and developing the skills and attitudes they need to take part positively in society now and in the future”
Wellington Ministry of Youth Affairs NZ (2001)
Youth development through sail training is the unique outdoor experiential learning that takes place when youth participate in a program at sea aboard a Tall Ship designed to build personal confidence, teamwork and leadership skills and increase an individual’s capacity to develop and utilise social networks.
Youth are taken far outside their comfort zones and are asked, through the process of learning to sail a tall ship, to co-exist with a number of previously unknown “others” (other youth and staff) and over come challenges such as living together, working through sea-sickness, learning the ropes, climbing aloft, handling inclement weather and ulitmately taking control of a tall ship. Through this process they learn qualitites about themselves that perhaps were previously unknown and through structured debriefs and facilitaiton they learn how to adapt the lessons learnt back into their daily lives.
Prior to becoming a teacher I spent eight years as a facilitator developing and delivering youth and personal development programs aboard tall ships such as Australia’s national sail training vessel Young Endeavour.
My involvement in sail training, youth development and tall ships began as a trainee aboard Young Endeavour in 2000. This trip ignited a passion for sail training and tall ships that has been a guiding beacon in my life ever since. Almost immediately following the voyage I changed career and began working for the HM Bark Endeavour Foundation as Crew Manager overseeing the administration of volunteer and paying crew as the Endeavour Replica sailed around Australia. Eventually I made my way back to the Young Endeavour Youth Scheme where I was the Youth Development and Voyage Coordinator 2004 – 2012.
In 2011, at a ceremony in Toulon France, I was awarded the Sail Training International Volunteer of the Year Award for services to the Australian Sail Training Association.
I have developed facilitation programs for personal development aboard tall ships culminating in a generic youth development program to be adapted for any vessel or situation at land or sea. I participated as a researcher in the Sail Training International and University of Edinburgh study into the effects and benefits of sail training on individuals (released in 2007), created the Generic Youth Development Program to be adapted for a wide range of sail training vessels and has developed onboard facilitation tools and techniques for the delivery of these programs at sea. I also presented at the 2008 STI/ASTA conference in Halifax NS, Canada on the “Characteristics of a Successful Youth Development Program”, participated as a steering group member for the STI Self Assessment Toolkit (2009-2011) assisting in the associated presentations at the STI conferences in Istanbul, Turkey (2009) and Stavanger, Norway (2010) and presented a background on educational principals and how they relate to trainee learning aboard tall ships entitled “How Trainees Learn” in Toulon, France (2011).
I am currently developing a youth development program for potentially disengaged youth as part of an extra-curricular boat building program called the “Lil-Lofty Project”. Through the process of building a small purposely designed sailing vessel youth will learn important teamwork, leadership and communication skills as well as develop an appreciation for the maritime environment.