A Australian study examined the effect of prior educational, professional, and teaching experiences on technical and further education teachers' approaches to their formal studies for educational diplomas. Thirty teachers (24 males and 6 females) enrolled in diploma courses in education completed the survey instrument; 15 were graduates of degree courses in their teaching subject, and 15 were teachers who had completed vocational diplomas and other nondegree qualifications in their subject areas. Eighteen of the respondents were given follow-up interviews. The teachers whose previous studies had been in technical and vocational areas did not find their prior experience nearly as helpful as the teachers with university and college degrees. Student-related problems were generally perceived as being more serious than teaching practice and self-related problems. The wide range of teaching problems mentioned during the interviews suggests that a problem-based approach would be useful in training teachers in classroom management techniques. It was found that, as students, the teachers need to acquire some diagnostic and management skills for their own academic work and some strategies for remedial work with students. (Nine figures are provided; appendixes include the survey instrument and list of 24 teaching problems covered in the follow-up interviews.) (MN)