TOW #23: American Schools Should Teach Entrepreneurship

Reading Goal: Choose a topic very different from my last TOW

Writing Goal: Better rhetorical analysis of devices/stategies

In this article, author Dayo Olopade talks about the teaching model of the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, South Africa and how this model can apply to schools in the United States. In the African Leadership Academy, students are deeply immersed in entrepreneurship, group activities, and a hands-on method of teaching. Olopade criticizes the American education system for teaching leadership and business exercises, skills critical for any type of work, at only the MBA levels.

Throughout this article, Olopade employs quotations from students in the system and rhetorical questioning to prove that the ALA model of learning is something American schools should consider. She quotes students Akon Nelson, writing," Very schools give you the opportunity to make it where it counts- not for a grade, but for your own credibility." By showing the positive feelings of a student that is currently experiencing the ALA method of teaching, Olopade is showing that this methord is something that doesn't just sound good on paper, but is actually engaging students in real life. She also uses rhetorical questions to help her American audience consider what is lacking in our current education system. Olopade wites, " Why reserve leadership and business training to budding MBA's and leave teambuilding exercises the domain of annual workplace retreats?" Her questions help advance her argument that the ALA methord of teaching can help students gain the advantages of leadership-building and business-training before even joining the workforce.

The audience for this article is the American public, but perhaps specifically Americans involved in education. Olopade is, after all, offering new ways of teaching. The author achieves her purpose of showing the shortcomings of the American education system in leadership development, but she could have focused more on how to potentially implement more of these programs. Dayo Olopade is a journalist covering global politics and developmental policy.