My two cents worth.
I may be living "out of time" but for me training should be good detailed basic dead reckoning training (compass, watch & map) and then how to use a gps as a back up.
I 've been all over southern Europe, from the Black Sea to Spain, using only maps, compass and watch, with the occasional ndb and vor for cross check. Never had a problem and have never busted any airspace (fellow flyers with gps often have on the same routing).
Regarding flying computed track @ the appropriate speed and ignoring the WCA and then turning over expected target and heading into the wind to find the target it is easly done and very effective (not useful though in cluttered airspace). Used it to get to Sarajevo once when sent up to FL105 on top in a C152 and the vor wasn't working and I didn't have a gps.
But my first instructor was a ex WWII bomber pilot and I was taught to feel the aeroplane, taste the wind, always be aware of my position, and to keep looking outside.