Yes. The classical education system in America worked much like that till the 1890's when the nascent Progressive movement decided to "democratize" education. A small percentage of people are truly educable. The rest, though, can be trained to do something worthwhile.
We've allowed our entire system to become training -- in the name of fairness and democracy. The smart kids either suffer or are home-schooled.
That's the dirty secret no one wants to admit. I'm a teacher, and of the 120 or so kids I see every day (middle school) I'd say about 30 are truly curious, academically inclined, capable of understanding, retaining, exploring, analyzing, and abstract thought. The other 90 just want gossip and games. It takes very little to satisfy them, so frankly, little is what they should get.