That’s a loaded phrase. Let’s start by unpacking it.
My data suggest there’s a 20% chance anyone ever did. And I’d wager that’s actually an optimistic number.
Reading is at the heart of formal education. There is no other skill that is as crucial to accessing vast quantities of knowledge as is reading.
And it's likely this precisely where the problem begins.
The problem is the unspoken assumption that all knowledge is directly accessible through simply reading. But is it?
All that said, teachers are not idiots, not by a long-shot. And many have figured out what some things need explicit teaching.
This is a simplistic description, but I think captures the process.
We actually know quite a bit about human cognition (replication crisis notwithstanding). We know a great deal about how we learn. This knowledge has been applied broadly, mostly in kindergarten through pre-university settings.
A consequence of our obsession with new scientific information is that a prerequisite for teaching science is being at the forefront of science, and not necessarily knowing how to teach.
1. Reading is by & large assumed to be just reading
2. Most teaching methods are based on the specific experiences of teachers in their classrooms.
3. Most of these methods are never tested.
4. In higher ed, there is little teaching training.