Excellent post, dublinpilot.
Flock1's experience reminds me of Diane Ackerman's book, "On Extended Wings: An Adventure in Flight", which I would recommend to anyone else concerned about the quality of flight instruction.
I can't see any justification for an instructor bullying, shouting, swearing, or implying that a student is stupid or hopeless. Okay, there are very occasionally students who ARE hopeless [see generally
www.avweb.com/articles/eyeofexp/eoe0042.html], but that problem should be dealt with fairly and in a caring manner.
I appreciate Hornetboy's point that an abusive instructor is a good CRM opportunity to learn how to deal with less-than-ideal conditions, but that presumes that the student already has a reasonably good grasp on basic flying skills.