I'm taking an introductory Accounting class this semester and I'm in an auditorium with about 500 other students learning the basics from a professor who wrote the textbook. I'm enjoying the subject and so far it hasn't been to difficult, it seems intuitive for the most part and I figure it'll help my in my future business ventures. Our first day in class though, our professor said and did a few things that I felt were less than professional, and especially in the first couple days of class, where impressions are made for the rest of the semester. A student fielded a question he posed and then before even commenting on the answer, he asked where the student was from and he responded "Great Britain". The professor then went on a tangent about an English person he knew who was always talking about the independence of America as a small thing, like England had just "released us like a white dove". Then he went up the isle a couple rows and said directly to the student: "Just so you know, we beat you in a war!". Another student fielding a question was asked where he was from, and when he responded with Indiana, the professor asked if he was good at basketball, and then proceeded to make fun of him for not being able to dunk, since he was from Indiana and obviously should play basketball. Another student from Texas (my home state which made it a touch personal), was asked on the spot to give us his opinion about Governor Perry running for president. He responded well, and ended by saying "I'd rather have a businessman than a politician." The professor then corrected him by saying "or businesswoman." to which he responded negatively, and subsequently was called out by the professor as being sexist and was made to stand up so everyone could see him, putting him in a humiliating position.
My thoughts after this experience are that a teacher in any class has to have a certain level of trust or credibility with the students to be able to teach them well. When I saw my accounting professor acting the way he did, it did two things to my trust in him. First, it made me think he was unprofessional and so no matter what his academic achievements or experience, I can't take him seriously and I'll take everything he says with a grain of salt. Second, I lost my desire to participate in the class or to really extend myself in any meaningful way, because I don't know if he'd put me on the spot like he did to those other students. Unfortunately both of those things hinder my learning in the class, and so the effectiveness of a teacher like that is limited because there's no trust in the class.
