I don't have a long commute to get to uni, but I do have a very inflexible boss, which makes getting to things during the day during term time is very difficult. When I first applied etc. it appeared that there was no need to actually be at uni  for anything, but then i found they had a compulsory induction week, there is an expectation that you will attend seminars and other things, which isn't easy. You also miss out a bit when it comes to seminars (you may be able to work your days in uni to fit with these of course), So you may want to check on these things. Also there is a bit of a problem getting to see people or getting bits of paperwork signed. Luckily I have good e-mail contact with my supervisors and that counts as supervision sessions, otherwise life would be even more difficult, so my advice is check how much you will be expected to be in uni and how your supervision will be undertaken, it may be more than you think.

I think there are quite a few things to think about here, not least of which - do you want to work with someone who behaves like this. Everybody makes mistakes, if it was that important, why did she not ask to check what you were doing before you went ahead? Unless you have a very good reason for sticking with this person, look elsewhere. She may nor be able to let go of the project and let others do their bit, she could be forever fiddling in what you are doing. Anyway you certainly don't want to feel like this at the beginning of your research, you need to be brimming with enthusiasm :-), put it down to experience and find another person to work with.

Hi Twinkle :-)

It is difficult when everyone and everything seems to be against you, and it is extra hard when you cannot find/ or do not know who to go to to get the things sorted out. One thing though it is always preferable to talk nicely to these people, even if you would like to do something entirely different!

The money thing is something that shouldn't have happened, have you been to see them to see why this has happened - or more importantly, have you asked what date you should go and see them to make sure the next payment is going through OK, perhaps you could make out you are the one who is a bit dippy about this just to make them feel good. It doesn't have to be true of course.

Here everything is geared around full time students, which leaves there rest of us out in the cold for a lot of things, like the new barrier cards for the car parks, I was in the library a day or so ago and there was a notice saying that the cards were not ready as expected in their previous message (even though no message had been sent to me) but that they would soon be in operation, so how are those of us without a card going to get in then??? Things always happen at a time to suit those who are around all day and the rest of us are conveniently forgotten. But hey, that's just part of the system, a gentle reminder usually gets something done or else you go by another route, like when the dragon at reception said I couldn't claim something, I just sent it elsewhere.

Don't give up because you are fed up at the moment, pause a bit and think it through. What will you lose by giving up (disregard the endless re-writes, the brick walls that you encounter, people who annoy you, or don't do things the way you think they should of course) and don't forget that the world will not have the opportunity to read your work, and you won't get quoted in millions of best selling books, get your name in lights, get an oscar, or be able to say 'I told you so' to the teacher who said you would never do it! :-)

i think we have all been there, probably more than once. I submitted something to the powers that be not so long ago, and they asked for something to be added, which I and my supervisor did, and now they are saying it is too much! It is annoying and frustrating but you get though it, don't give up because of this, here they call it 'playing the game' just hang on in there, just think, once you have it right you will be able to move on to the next bit and can cross it off the 'to do' list :-)

Have the others been together for a while? This might be a reason why they appear less than welcoming, you know what it is like when someone joins a group after it has been established, it takes a while to be accepted, and if they all speak the same language then they might forget that you do not speak it, it is really easy to slip into your mother tongue, especially if you are trying to explain something complicated. this doesn't excuse them, but may be why they do it (sorry, don't know what area you are in, so can't tell how relevant that is). supervisors vary a lot, as many posts show, so do tale the advice and go and see someone to get this bit sorted out, you are not alone with this problem, sometimes although people are great at their work, they just don't have the people skills some get better, though some never do. When I was at school we had a maths teacher who would never explain anything to the girls as he thought they couldn't do maths - however if you managed to get on without his help and did A level maths, especially pure maths, he couldn't do enough to help you - but by then of course you had found other ways of getting any help you needed, this chap may work on the same principle, so once you can show him you can do it his attitude might change. don't give up though, you owe it to yourself to carry on.

number one, make sure you know where you want the session to go, and plan it. say 5 mins intro, then so long on one thing, so long on another etc. and don't forget to leave enough time to draw things together at the end This will give you a framework. Once you have that, decide what you want to get over in each bit of your session and make sure that happens. It is true there are loads of ways of conducting these things, breaking it up, getting people to work in groups etc, but you need to make sure they all know what they are in the group for. You may have been lucky in your choice of person to write, I would probably have asked for a volunteer, as some people really hate doing this. You might want to have a quick look at some of the education books - if you have the right course at your uni as this might help you. You know what worked for you, and what your peers liked, so build on that knowledge, you will soon get confident in doing it.

As far as I know the MEd is more practice based. There is also a doctorate in education (EdD)along the same lines. Both are, I think, quite new. and as far as I know both are considered to be equal value to MA/MSc and PhD respectively. As in all things, it may depend upon where you want to go with it in the future and therefore which approach would give you a more suitable grounding for future work.

A first step might be to look at the people doing the course, and then find some articles/books that they have written. Read those and see if they are in the areas you want to study. In the masters you will be covering a lot of different areas, perhaps taught by different people and you need to look at their work to see if you are thinking along the same lines as they are, not because you want to agree with everything, but it will mean that the books in the library might  reflect thier ideas (not that education seems to have a big book budget). Some universities may have an overall reputation, but this may not be in the area you are studying, same as any subject really. Choose carefully, and remember that interviews are a two way process, ask if they are interested in the areas you are interested in.

Having done a masters in Education I think you need to look at which side of education you want to look at, the practical side or the theoretical side. I did the latter, and that concerns the philosphy and thinking, Friere, Illich, Gramski, Marx, Rousseau, Locke, Plato, Hill, Rikowski, McLaren etc. the practical side is more classroom based and looks at other things, maybe more grounded type stuff. When you have decided which side you want to concentrate on - they are obviously not mutually exclusive, look for a few current names in the area you want to study, look at the prospectuses of the universities and see if any are at the universities you want to go to, if not, pick one where the course looks interesting - you might want to see what the library is like too in terms of books on the subject. :-)

My husband, my soul mate, was killed by a stupid car driver who didn't even have the guts to admit what he had done just before I started my MA. I didn't tell any of the lecturers at uni, because it was a private thing  I told a couple of my fellow students because one of them asked why I never mentioned him. My daughter had just started uni and had to be told over the phone what had happened. She rang her flat mates who had gone into London and they immediately came back to comfort her (she couldn't come straight home as it was late at night by the time he died), and for that I will be forever grateful, her faculty were really good to her too. Maybe that is the key, you need someone to be there if you need them, and to respect your need to not talk about it if you don't want to. Actually I think recover is the wrong word, you just learn to live with it and get on with things.

and yes, your dog is family too, as someone who has had to have several pets put to sleep it is traumatic. In your heart you know it is inevitable, but that doesn't make it any easier

I also have a full time job, and have commented several times about the way that everything appears to be geared to full timers, all the events being in the daytime etc. I have an added problem in that I work in education, (not a teacher) but my school is not at all supportive. so much so that I had to make up the time I spent at the induction week and note this on a card, signed by my HOD, even though the head knows I always work overtime that I do not claim, and it is very hard to get any time in school tim eto visit my supervisors etc.. The postgrad school listened a bit and have put on at least one course during the school hols, and are planning some evening sessions too, but it isn't quite the same. i find the most difficult bit is trying to get all the necessary bits of paper signed at the right time and delivered to the right place, which is why formal hurdles take much longer to get through. However I do make an effort to get to things I can attend, and keep in e-mail touch with others, but I'm sure it is easier for those who are on campus all the time.

Real World Research by Robson is probably a good start, you should have this one in the library, along with Ground Rules for Good Research by Denscombe. perhaps you need to tell then what methods you will use to obtain your subjects?

My daughter works at the uni, and had to be there to welcome the newcomers, she said some of them were really rude, once she had just spoken to security to let a blue badge holder through, only to asked by another person why their car hadn't been let through when they were unloading - they said they also had a blue badge and were really cross, she asked had they told anyone , no, they said. So how was anyone to know then???? Some had left their identity documents in the car and were miffed when they were asked to go back and get them, so what did they think they were for then? Me, I know I will never find anywhere to park if I have to come up to uni during the day - and if I do find somewhere I will never be able to get out because the students do not seem to understand you need room to turn. Oh well, how long until the next break?

I am self funding for a number of reasons, not least is that at my age there would be little likelyhood of any funding anyway, and it is in education, but goes against the cosy usual path of education research, it was hard enough getting the uni hierarchy to accept the area anyway as it is opening a can of worms that those in power may well wish to see kept closed, so funding would be out of the question and not even worth considering. However I am passionate about the area and love the atmosphere at uni. I work full time, but at a school, so tend to do concentrated work during the school hols (fell apart a bit this year due to moving of the entire science labs on two sites into a new building on one site which took chunks out of my summer 'holiday'. I can't imagine life without some academic work, which I hope to continue after finishing this. Onward and upward I say!

how can it be awful? they may just have chosen the wrong word. Perhaps they mean it just needs tidying up a bit. If it as draft that is exactly what it is, a draft, it isn't the final version just another step along the way, perhaps they are stressed, it is coming up to the grand opening of the uni to the newbies, which is probably quite a difficult time for lecturers as well as the new students. I would ask how it can be improved, what aspects need work etc. . Don't give up.