What you wrote above is almost exactly how most of my K-12 teacher friends described their undergrad/grad Ed school classes. They all viewed it as a mandatory ticket that had to be punched and found nearly all of what they learned in those classes…especially educational/pedagogical theory to be impractical at best once they started student-teaching and moreso…once they became full-time teachers.
And the more years of teaching experience they’ve had, the more they felt it confirmed their assessment about the classes*. The one exception to that was the student-teaching and mentoring from veteran teachers who knew the realities of the ground and gave them valuable tips on what to retain from their ed school classes and what to discard/take with substantial tankers of salt.
- One is currently in her 12th year of teaching and on track to being the next chairperson of her HS's math department once the incumbent chair retires.