Hello-

My name is Elizabeth Dowell and I am a teacher. I’m also a mentor, tutor, speaker, professional development leader, consultant, and overall education disruptor.

My Why-

Education is in my bones. My passion for teaching and learning has expanded to innovating the entire education system and making it more authentic, relevant, and reflective of the skills and knowledge needed in the 21st century. I am out to cultivate curiosity and guide purpose-driven learning with an optimistic future-oriented mindset.

Broadly speaking, our education system has not changed much since its inception during the Industrial Revolution. In 1892, the Committee of Ten recommended the hierarchical structure of subjects, courses, grade bands, and even grades, which remain the same to this day. Their purpose was to create a unified system of education across the country and standardize teacher training in an effort to respond to the economic and social revolutions society was experiencing. That was 128 years ago. 

Today, each subject remains isolated in its own room. Students follow standardized courses, progression, and evaluation systems recommended in the 19th-century, with a pedagogy that hasn’t progressed beyond the 20th-century. The United States has a system obsessed with conforming content over creativity and standardized tests over human development.

In this era of COVID-19, all aspects of our society are being reexamined and redesigned. In education, that means we have the opportunity to let go of all the broken and harmful pieces of our education system and fight to build something better. Something more equitable, just, and globally conscious to take us into the future.

I started the non-profit the Lark Institute in 2019 with the mission to create a comprehensive new model for education that reflects the skills and knowledge needed in the 21st-century. From that project, I began designing Lark Academy, a learner-centered high school committed to cultivating and empowering future innovators, designers, and entrepreneurs to become the global leaders and creators of their generation. That project has been delayed by the pandemic, but not derailed. The Lark Institute continues to offer services and support to teens, parents, and educators in these uncertain times.

The future is what we make it.

Let’s make it with intention.