A typology of teacher encounters was derived from observations of elementary school teachers for the purposes of ordering field data and indicating teaching experiences outside the classroom which affect, through sociocultural forces, classroom teaching behavior. From observations of teacher encounters in the auditorium, faculty room, school grounds, and off-school grounds as well as in the classroom, it is hypothesized that an infrequent encounter of one kind may in its ambiguity strain a teacher's sense of satisfaction more than another. Illustrative of this ambiguity which can be perceived as a dichotomy (such as professional-bureaucratic or authoritarian-democratic), are teacher evaluations and parent-teacher relationships. It is postulated that role expectations have obscured or oversimplified research and that inquiry into the dichotomies of teaching will lead to more useful research and, because they reflect and reinforce values attached to teaching, provide reassurance that our research endeavors are consistent with our values. (LP)