First of all… I appreciate your pessimism. I often feel pessimistic as well as I try to respond to our readings. I think you brought up a great point in saying “readings and videos seem wonderful in theory, but they just gloss over the problems.” We’ve talked in class about how lectures can be inspiring, but aren’t often effective at teaching, and that’s how I feel about a lot of these readings. Langer says that she’s going to talk about the why, but not the how. I feel like the how would be really helpful. The people that do talk about the how often do so in a more idealized sense, and don’t offer a realistic plan for how to implement change.

I’m not usually big on quotes, but there’s one that stuck on me from C.S. Lewis. “Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God, do you learn.”
I agree that experience and practice are the best ways to learn new skills, and expand your proficiency in skills you already know. Role playing in the classroom is great way to get that practice.