> can this actually be taught?
Yes, it can be taught quite easily, take a deep dive through the classical trivium curriculum which originated in Greece.
The first leg at the start teaches aristotle's logic, history, descartes method, and philosophy which covers the requirements for rigorous reasoning and proof, and critical thought, and this is done in the first 4 years or so, but continually reviewed and improved thereafter in all lessons. Rhetoric and oratory later on includes structured argumentation, and how to deal with fallacy, and abuses of the contrast principle, as well as other blindspots.
Methods like Descarte's method are basic heuristics which can be quickly learned and practiced because they are so simple that the individual can approach and test conjecture and premises very easily with it until they get to the truth (regardless of the subject matter), and discard falsehoods easily on their own.
History and political economy were also taught early when facts can more easily be absorbed. These skills naturally lead towards self-directed learning where you've learned the requirements for such as definition (identity), mixed premises, how to test and spot falsehood and bias, how to decompose mixed statements to first principles discarding fallacy and falsehood such that they are true, and the requirements to communicate and learn.
The modern curriculum today is about torturing the student. Anyone you know that has math PTSD is a prominent example.
In keeping with the generational social contract, you give children the tools they need to make the tasks simple enough for them to do it themselves, and you give them agency to do it. People often mistake intelligence (speed) for cumulative growth over time.
The dumbing down of education, and associated torture both in education and throughout quite a lot of our society as a whole is causing a great number of people to have psychological regression (infantalism), if not outright delusion following a totalitarian bent.
You see these issues in a great number of areas but most prominently in the literature and media, for example, whose primary audience is young boys and girls 7-15 (comic book stories, anime). You see adults being entertained by these in adulthood, such as the isekai reincarnation tropes, or black company tropes in Japanese anime.
There is something truly and inherently disturbing about children's shows where the overarching theme at the beginning is, you die and life was so traumatic, without any redeeming qualities without being able to do anything, and that because of this mistake god gives them a second chance with a charmed life in the next life.