I happen to like KA a lot! I started to search for KA criticisms after I noticed my attention going haywire while watching a chemistry video. Chemistry is a weak point for me and as an adult learner I need clear explanations that will work for me in the shortest time possible. I find that there are many videos that accomplish this task and that most of those videos authors are High School teachers! The Khan academy videos don’t do the trick for me when it comes to chemistry. I happen to know a thing or two about language pedagogy and have about five years experience as an ESL teacher, though I am a professional counselor.
One mistake I made as a beginning teacher was over explaining grammar points another mistake I made was teaching concepts in a way that would serve to confuse students by setting them up to be grammatical failures. For example it is not a good idea to teach Japanese students how to construct sentences in the passive voice before teaching them about active voice. This mistake, enforced by the Japanese educational system, causes most Japanese students to create complicated sentences in English that are not understood by native speakers. Causing Japanese people to sound like this, “How do you do? I am called Masayuki, what are you called?” Its bad English BECAUSE it lays down patters that encourage students to speak ineffective English with non-pragmatic grammatical artifacts.
The point is that I came to an understanding that I was doing students a great disservice by setting them up to be bad grammarians while destroying their ability to learn practical English. After some training I began to improve my pedagogical techniques, but at no point did I decide to share my teaching style with the world on Youtube, just because, hey, I’m an awesome guy. I think that in some of the KA videos there are natural unconscious pedagogical mistakes, which are then transmitted to thousands of students. In some ways teaching is a transmission and when the mistakes are transmitted to large numbers of people there is a massive received ignorance. This transmission of ignorance is a naturally occurring phenomena of all education, and is not evil unless it carried out as institutional or national policy, as in historical denial; Holocaust denial, Japanese denial of atrocities in Asia incurred during its military campaigns. The difference between teachers and the KA is that teachers, through their training, should at some point learn “reflexivity” and follow best pedagogical practices and should, in theory implement those practices into their lectures.
I think Sal is fairly “humble”, in a self-deprecating kind of way. I do not, however discover an embodied reflexivity in his pedagogy. I think humility would be more evident if say one would admit that one cannot teach 10 – 15 different subjects well. Perhaps one should find a few more teachers to add to ones team. Shouldn’t one?

In your case, you don’t move the ball much and you have a nice natural stroke. Good strategy as well. The so-called experts can run balls consistently; that consistency is why people call them experts. Stronger than normal mental focus is another trait…as with any sport I suppose.

I like the way you play…the makings of “world class” if you chose to go that way. But I believe you are a born teacher because you get to the core of how people learn…then deliver that. I’ve watched your “Building a New Culture of Teaching and Learning” several times. That seems to be world class work! Thanks for sharing…………….