Is it better to teach a good writer a specific format, or to teach a specific format in order to teach people how to write?

Most people will not become scientists. Those who do can quickly pick up the additional burden of formatting requirements, when necessary.

Most people will encounter venues where they need to conform to arbitrary and seemingly pointless formats in order to publish there. Becoming comfortable doing so without throwing a fit is a skill that needs to be learned to operate in modern society.

I'm not throwing a fit. I'm saying that the five-paragraph essay is supposed to teach clear writing, and it doesn't.

If you want to teach conformity to arbitrary and seemingly pointless strictures, the rest of the public education system does that already.

I didn't mean to say it's you throwing a fit, I meant to say that students are throwing fits. Unless you're a student? Sorry I didn't convey that clearly.

I wouldn't say that the purpose of the 5-paragaph essay is to teach clear writing. It serves the same purpose as mandating a format for a conference; no format mandate means you get N formats, which makes evaluating them much harder.