Instructors. We definitely had it better!
I am reading "Sagittarius Rising" again. He was describing instruction and reminded me of my first FIs. Nowadays it seems to me that studes aren't allowed to get into scrapes the way we were. My first RAF training sorties were often a mess. The FI had the courage to let me make mistakes see the consequences and show me how to get out of them. I didn't get to make a career in the RAF but this experience was so valuable. I know that back in the olden days, civilians instructors were the same. Nowadays, I think that most instruction assumes a path to commercial that doesn't allow for the "accidental" wing stall. Oh I know that spinning is not possible in many school kites but we leaned so much more back then.