Block changing

[Dr Jekyll]

Was there a time when car instructors routinely taught 'down through the gears' instead of block changing?

I've heard about middle aged drivers being discombobulated during advanced training when concept of block changing was introduced, but I learnt in the late 70s and I don't remember ever being expected to go down through the gears.

[Dr Jekyll]

Surprising, I assumed insisting on sequential downchanges had died out in the 60s or thereabouts.