Whatever happened to direct instruction?

Here is an interesting polemical article by Richard Ullman which asks the same question about school education and all the fashionable learner-centred approaches. He says: “many of these strategies tend to put the critical-thinking-and-creativity cart before the fundamental content-and-skill-acquisition horse” and then goes on to give an example of someone learning how to play a musical instrument: you can’t show your creativity before you have developed the basic skill of playing. I’d take it with a grain of salt, but if you feel that sometimes the pendulum swings too far and learners do not get enough knowledge and guidance, this might be the explanation.