The problems of first year teachers are well researched in many developed countries. In less developed nations however they have been researched rather less thoroughly. Papua New Guinea is typical in this respect, for there has been no full-scale survey of beginning secondary school teachers. This paper was the first in a series of papers indicating the detailed aims of the research project. Several of the other papers concerning this project are already available in ERIC. [This paper was published in "Papua New Guinea Journal of Education," Volume 19, No. 2, October 1983, pp. 47-50.]