A survey identified professional roles and activities which were considered areas of difficulty for first year home economics teachers. Seven roles were considered, involving the teacher as: (1) planner; (2) director and helper of learning; (3) counselor and guide to the students; (4) mediator and interpretor of the culture; (5) a link with the community; (6) member of the teaching profession; and (7) member of the school community. Respondents also rated the difficulty of six professional activities: (1) working in a mainstreamed situation; (2) managing learning laboratory settings; (3) obtaining instructional equipment, supplies, and materials; (4) providing career education; (5) working in extra class activities; and (6) providing a broad range of content and activities. The role ranked as being of the greatest difficulty was "teacher as a link with the community," followed by "teacher as a mediator and interpretor of the culture." These rankings, when compared with those made by teachers in seven other curricular areas, revealed a similar pattern regarding the two teacher roles considered most difficult. The home economics teachers ranked "obtaining instructional equipment, supplies, and materials" as the area of highest professional difficulty. (JD)