re: Is Scott Phillips (American Woodworker) preventing new wood workers from learning proper Joinery ?

I don’t think this is a big problem Jim. I am assuming you are worried about new woodworkers not getting the basics and that the general quality and standards of woodworking will therefore decline. While I share your disdain of pocket hole joinery for general joining I can’t believe that teaching mainly that technique will have any big impact on woodworking or woodworkers. Learning one skill to get started almost always leads to developing more skills, much as like what happened to me. I started with the idea of just turning and wound up doing all kinds of woodworking. There is so much info on the net now and so many magazines and free videos available that it would be difficult to imagine that anyone would be content to just stick with pocket hole joinery unless of course they love it and they are successful in getting the job done with only that.