The ideal direction is using something like Khan Academy for

Hear the words of the teacher and visionary, Sal Khan, who spoke thus: “The ideal direction is using something like Khan Academy for every student to work at their own pace, to master concepts before moving on, and then the teacher using Khan Academy as a tool so that you can have a room of 20 or 30 kids all working on different things, but you can still kind of administrate that chaos.” These words, though spoken in the language of learning, are in truth a map for the future of human growth. For within them is contained the wisdom of freedom, discipline, and mastery—the pillars upon which true knowledge is built.

The meaning of his words is clear: education must no longer be bound to the rigid march of time, where all walk at the same pace regardless of strength or weakness. Instead, each student should advance according to their own rhythm, pausing to wrestle with a lesson until it is mastered, and only then moving on. This is no small vision. It is the overturning of an old order where failure is buried beneath averages, where the gifted grow bored and the struggling are left behind. Sal Khan’s vision calls for a new way, where every child is seen, every mind is nurtured, and mastery becomes the measure of progress.

The ancients too understood this principle. Think of Aristotle and his pupil Alexander the Great. Aristotle did not rush his young student through philosophy, logic, and science as if ticking boxes upon a scroll. He allowed Alexander to linger, to question, to wrestle with ideas until they became part of his very soul. The result was a man who did not merely know facts but wielded wisdom—enough to shape empires and conquer the known world. This is the fruit of mastery: knowledge so deeply planted that it bears strength for every battle of life.

Yet Khan speaks also of the teacher, who becomes no longer a mere deliverer of lectures but a guide, a shepherd of many paths. In a classroom where each student walks differently, the teacher is like a general commanding many units in battle, each at a different stage, yet all moving toward victory. To administrate that chaos is not to suppress it, but to channel it, to transform what seems disorder into a living harmony. It is the art of leadership, patience, and faith in the individual journey of every learner.

History offers us another example in the story of Maria Montessori, who reshaped education by trusting children to explore and learn at their own rhythm. Her classrooms, filled with motion and freedom, seemed chaotic to outsiders, yet within that seeming disorder was profound order—the order of discovery, curiosity, and mastery. From her came generations of learners who carried not only knowledge but the love of knowledge. So too does Khan stand as a modern bearer of this ancient truth: when the teacher trusts the student’s pace, greatness can flourish.

The lesson, then, is luminous: true learning is not speed, but depth; not uniformity, but mastery. If you wish to grow, do not rush past your struggles. Face them, master them, and carry the strength of that victory forward. If you are a guide to others, do not measure them all by the same pace. Instead, honor their differences, and lead them not to sameness, but to excellence.

Practical action is demanded of us. If you are a student, slow your steps. Do not fear the pause, for the pause is where mastery is born. If you are a teacher, become a gardener rather than a taskmaster—watering each plant according to its need, knowing that the harvest is richest when each seed is given its time. And if you are a leader, in family or work, remember that not all grow at the same speed. Guide with patience, but demand mastery, so that no one moves on still weak in foundation.

For remember this truth: chaos in the classroom, like chaos in life, can be the soil of greatness if guided with wisdom. The vision of Sal Khan is not merely for schools, but for all who would learn and grow. To walk at your own pace, to master before moving on, and to lead others with patience—this is the path not only of education but of life itself. Embrace it, and the world will be filled with men and women who are not only taught, but truly wise.