If you think running pre-ICC raid instances is a waste of time, let me know when you are quickly downing Felmyst in Sunwell, or completing the Safety Dance in Naxx. No really, running "older" raid instances in these pre-Cataclysm weeks is helping our new raiders to learn more about raiding - in ways that has nothing to do with role or class. Even veteran raiders are getting refreshers on some of the subtleties of "fine footwork". Felmyst can one shot an entire 80s raid in ICC gear with her breath weapon. She drops three of these in Phase 2 and if even one person gets in contact with her gaseous breath, they become charmed and the raid must kill them or be killed by them. This is not a mechanic we deal with in ICC (Lady DW but that is nowhere near the scale of this - an entire raid can be charmed).
Of more interest to our raid leaders, are the soft skills of raiding that these instances hone: the simple (yet seemingly inexplicably difficult to achieve) "sign up and show up" skill; settling into a normalized raiding schedule reliably; learning the subtleties of overcoming lag and movement needs; taking breaks when the raid leader calls for them instead of "whenever"; and perhaps most important of all, honing the skill of frustration management when things are not going smoothly despite what appears to be a "simple thing".
Signing up, showing up on time, keeping the raid from growing too long from too many bio breaks, and managing frustrations are hallmarks of a great raider - all skills that can be honed in every raid instance in the game. And all skills that will last long after you replace that ICC gear.
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