I love self-learning. I read a lot of books as a kid (at one point my dad even got mad at me because I was ignoring him while reading yet another book).

At the same time, I believe -- and have seen firsthand as a teacher -- that many students need instruction to learn certain concepts. Even if they don't need instruction, they need a framework or structure to learn within. (One of the big challenges I had to solve early on during my TFA time was classroom behavioral management -- it doesn't matter how good your pedagogy is if your kids won't listen to you).

Great teaching involves modeling a new skill or concept, providing some amount of training wheels, and then seeing it through to independent mastery. Is there a lot that a student can learn on their own simply by reading? Absolutely. Kids should read more books.