Anecdotal evidence suggests to me that this is actually all too common.  When I describe my primary and secondary schools (1970-1974, Park Senior High, etc., Swindon) where challenging teachers with difficult questions and alternative methods simply prompted the teachers to either gently shoot down your naive idea or return the challenge with something a bit more difficult I am often told &quot;That&#x27;s how it worked at your school, the rest of us didn&#x27;t have it so good.&quot;