Improving the quality of teaching should be a fundamental concern of the discipline of speech communication. In studying communicating style in any context or situation (including the classroom), attention needs to be given (1) to the character of the interpretive and behavioral repertoires of individuals; (2) to any socio-historical expectations they bring to interaction; and (3) to understandings which evolve through interaction. Such an approach to the study of communicating style is based upon constructivist assumptions. A constructivist seeks to explain behavior in terms of shared social knowledge and individual communicative development. Constructivist research in communication provides some useful exemplars for gathering and treating data, but no complete methodological model exists for studying communicating style. When the communicating style of a teacher is studied, the style of a unique individual who is also an important agent of socialization is examined. Differences in teacher's styles of communicating should be expected to affect the social and communicative development of their students. Communicating style must be investigated by studying individuals making meaning in specific social contexts. Developing methods for such investigations is a logical next step. (Four notes and 75 references are attached.) (MG)