Dreamy student - pick up during courtship (4-9)
I believe the answer is:
wool-gathering
'dreamy' is the definition.
(wool-gathering means tending to daydream)
'student pick up during courtship' is the wordplay.
'student' becomes 'l' (as in L-plates for learner drivers).
'pick up' becomes 'gather' (both can mean to learn or find out something).
'during' is an insertion indicator.
'courtship' becomes 'wooing' (synonyms).
'l'+'gather'='lgather'
'lgather' going inside 'wooing' is 'WOOL-GATHERING'.
(Another definition for wool-gathering that I've seen is " Absent-mindedly musing".)