The OP referred to whether older chemical technologies or digital were better for learning photography.
I fought this battle two decades ago at a film school. Since it was a "film" school, the entrenched instructors insisted on using film to teach film. Fair enough. However, equipment contention was high and the high cost of film and processing precluded experimentation. The entire class produced a five films in two years.
Using digital video equipment, every one of my digital film school students had continuous access to their own camera and each student had 24 hr access to an edit station. Instead of working on a "whole class" film, each student was able to make several films over a period of about two months.
Guess who learned the most about film-making?
Disclaimer: I have no formal photographic or artistic education.
That said I believe digital is very effective for several reasons.
But I also believe film - with all the hassle (I start hating scanning btw - would prefer either darkroom or full digital) gives you an experience which I believe is harder to achieve with digital.
And vice versa ...
The issue is speed.
Speed has 2 sides - things go faster - but speedy technique tempts to overlook the things that need time.
I want to digress into the field of the other arts.
There are many different tools and techniques: Pencil, Graphite Blocks, Coal, Watercolors, Oil, Etching, etc.
A fast tool, like a graphite block has advantages and disadvantages -its a fast tool, very good not only for certain purposes, but also for a certain mindset or attitude towards the process. (My English leaves me here for the best expression - I simply assume you know what I mean)
Other techniques - lets say sculpting with marble - need a totally different mindset.
The tools play an important role - and whats good for one artist might be bad for another.
The digital process is several orders of magnitude faster than working with film and this doesn't mean its inferior - its just different.
So - from a certain point of view I believe learning film photography - even when going digital for the rest of your photographic life - makes a lot of sense.
But from a different one - equally valid - it would be complete BS.
It depends where you want to go.
A good teacher should know if for a certain student learning film is a good idea and for another possibly not.
my € 0.02
Cheers
~Chris