'Critical Thinking' - You MUST Be Joking!

It is frequently argued by those trying to defend modern education that old-style education was 'memory based' and shunned 'critical thinking'.
Having taught RS for a generation - I wonder why I need to spoonfeed more and more as each year goes by.
As a Spanish teacher by trade - I came into teaching just at the point where knowledge was being 'junked' in favour of 'skills'.
YOU try teaching a language to pupils using little linguistic structure and no actual body of knowledge!