Sometimes this is exactly how I feel in my classes. I sometimes feel like I don't learn anything from class, I am just trying to give the teacher what they want. There are many times in my school years that I have just done what I thought the teacher wanted.
One example was from my English 2010 class. Every paper that I wrote in that class had something to do with learning a language or living in a different country. For the final portfolio we were supposed to include all of our papers and a summary paper. I wrote up the summary paper and wrote it in an order that made total sense to me. I met with my teacher (it was a mandatory meeting) in which she would give some advice on my final. When she read my paper she pulled out some scissors from her desk. She proceeded by cutting my paper into five or six sections. She rearranged the sections and explained that the paper "flowed" better in that order. I thought the order made no sense and I didn't like it at all. I almost felt like she was destroying my work. Did I leave it the way that I originally had it? NOPE! Why? Because I wanted an A, and I got it.
I recently entered the Education Department. I have learned some great techniques on how to teach in a foreign language class, and I have decided how I want to teach my class. I also learn the exact opposite of what I just learned. For example, in one class I learned that we are supposed to be among students and let them do the majority of the talking and learning. (I am the "facilitator" or "architect".) Then I go to my next class where I learn that I am supposed to dominate the classroom and stay up front with a vigilant eye on the class. (I am large and in charge.)
I have to come up with lesson plans that totally contradict each other. I have to do this to please the teachers and to "get the A." I will probably implement some lesson plans and totally throw out the others. It all comes down to my Fry quote above: I "just learned how to pass classes over the years."
I hope that everything that I teach in my class will be useful to students in their future. If I have them do an assignment, there will be a reason behind it, be it culture, language or some other objective.
