Student parents support thread

[Lenni]

I used to come on this topic a year or so ago and post on the general hand holding support thread but it seems to have gone so I'm hoping there might be enough of us to start a new one.

I'm in my final leg of a M.Ed in Education and am currently writing my thesis which is going very slowly okay but am struggling to find time, motivation or energy to study. It would be nice to know others are in the same boat and have a place to handhold, moan, swap tips and motivate each other.

I?ve got a dissertation meeting tomorrow and I know my supervisor isn?t going to be happy that I haven?t done more. I was hoping to have a date for my research by now but still waiting for approval from the school.

I?m looking at the characteristics of children who have imaginary friends. I think it?s a really interesting topic, especially since dd has 2 imaginary friends. The only problem is that I have to find 3 children with imaginary friends in the reception class I volunteer in. According to the research the majority of children have an imaginary friend by the time they are 7 but I?m really starting to panic that I won?t find 3 children to do my case studies!!!

I?m going to continue working on my literature review after my meeting tomorrow. I hope to get a first draft completed by Friday (optimistic I know).

Good luck to everyone else trying to get some work done

Mia/MMMB you two sound incredibly organised. Good luck with the research Mia, I know just how hard it is to recruit a sample. If it were me I'd just be honest with your tutor, on the whole they seem to be pretty understanding and are looking to support you rather than criticise.

Molesworth - Thanks for your sympathies, I actually don't think the damage is too extensive. In some ways it was a pretty handy exercise since my tutor read most of my lit review for me and said it was very good, plus helped me out with tweaking it. I wouldn't usually have got that kind of feedback - they are pretty cagey about reading complete chapters for instance, and usually only give non-specific advice. Would be interested to hear what you make of your book, I might have a look for it when I'm in uni tomorrow.

So tomorrow is my first day of teaching - argh! The panic is beyond mild.

Madwoman, where are you living at the moment? Sounds glorious. Glad you managed a productive week away, I always find I write much faster if I have things straightened out in my head and a bit of passion for the topic.

I sympathise with those of you working, studying and looking after kids. Makes me realise that being a SAHM and studying isn't all that hard after all. Although today have had the day from hell, but we all have those sometimes, and this one involved copious quantities of vomit, yum.

Evening ladies sorry I haven't been on for forever. I had to cut MN off to get my three pieces of work in, and I did so that is a good thing.

The even better news is that my first mark came back and I got 80%. I was so chuffed because I really don't think I worked as hard as I could have done, but hey ho just goes to show you that until the marks come back there really is no way of telling.

So that's my education essay on inclusion back, now I have to wait for my English C19th literature essay and another one on community participation to come back.

Apparently the English marks are ready for collection and I'm crapping myself (sorry) as a few people have collected and have failed, and someone has told me that apparently my work along with the other people who have failed is being moderated!!!

Does this mean I have also failed???????? Aargh!!!!

Different subject.....I need to come up with a dissertation question/thesis and I am struggling. Can you all help me pinpoint it, I'm going to go with my education strand and have an interest in education and poverty/social class/gender/race. I know that this is leaning towards an inclusion dissertation and I'm wondering if I'm being swayed by having just done really well in inclusion. Should I step away from the inclusion?

Sorry for the mahoosive post

Noooo, don't step away from Inclusion!!!

Sounds like you are interested in equity issues to me, but you need a narrower focus as it is a massive subject area - if it is social class that most interests you then have a look for Stephen J. Ball he has written some fascinating stuff on class inequality in education. It might inspire you to either ditch that line of thought or go for it. I have no experience with gender inequality but have looked at the inclusion issues surrounding ethnic groups (more along the lines of faith than race) - it is a fascinating topic, but I found it very very difficult to build a case study as was dealing with a sensitive topic that schools weren't too keen on me researching. If you don't need to conduct any research yourself then it would make for an excellent dissertation.

If you are interested the Centre for Equity in Education has produced a series of reports on the English education system that you can access here they identity many of the key issues surrounding education/social inclusion at the moment.

You're all brilliant. I'm still in procrastination mode but checking into this thread is helping.

Lenni, good luck tomorrow: do let us know how it goes.

Jaqueline, congratulations on the stonking mark. Your dissertation ideas sound fascinating.

I'm off to watch the olympics start drafting my essay

Oooh Lenni you star!

I have penciled in tomorrow as a research day, so I shall go over those bits you have given, and see how I feel about the subject area.

Ethnicity got my attention because I have mixed race children, but I will have to conduct my own research. So I am making the decision now, based on your experience to cull it.

mia, have we 'spoken' on here about imaginary friends before?

i was trying to persuade someone to do some research into imaginary friends and children with disabilities, esp autism... can't remember if it was you lol. it came up on a thread about imaginary friends somewhere in on the sn boards, but i keep banging on about it every time someone mentions them lol.

lenni, i'm living in canada at the mo, but we're just here for 2 years, (why i'm playing catch-up with coursework as the whole international move thing got right in the way), so phd will hopefully tie into when we get back. (and lol at moley watching the olympics - it's wall-to-wall here, but only if you want to watch canadian athletes. when amy williams went into first place, they cut the feed and switched to blooming hockey! it took mn to find out if she'd won lol, thank goodness for the insomniacs!

jaq, don't worry - sometimes they go to moderation for all sorts of reasons. once i went to validate a distinction mark, and once because (for a variety of reasons) the first marker knew i was the author, and so wanted his own judgement validated to check for bias... so don't fret!

Madwomanintheattic, yes that was me.

The imaginary friend link with ASD would be really interesting to research and there is very little that has been previously done on it.

The only problem is the practical and ethical issuses for a UG dissertation.I would guess it would take a lot of work because there is so little previous work in the field, plus it would be a nightmare to find a suitable sample.

Think it would make an excellent focus for a PhD though.

Bloody hell, am ill, my essay on Afghanistan is going nowhere fast and I'm tempted to ditch and pick another essay question as it's too hard. Argghhhh!

Missed my lecture last night due to being stuck on a train for 45 minutes and can't see myself making it in this afternoon as I have literally no voice and a spiking temperature - incredibly annoying as this week is the lectures that are my essay topics. Feeling very frustrated this week!

I don't know why I have a complete inability to do things in advance, essay deadline is three weeks away and apart from a few bits here and there I have done nothing!

Working, studying and being a parent seems like a bit too much this week, sorry for the moan, just needed to get it out on a positive note my last term essays are back with final marks and I got 67% in one and 69% in other so am pretty pleased with that, they count for 25% of this years grade so it's a good base to be working with.

Imaginary friend stuff sounds fascinating, nobody in my family has ever had an imaginary friend, my daughter is 2 so will wait and see if she bucks the trend. At what age do they typically develop out of interest?

Sorry to hear you are feeling ill Ewe. Good news on the marks though, well done.

Typically children with imaginary friends are between 3 and 7. Although it's not that uncommon for teenagers and even adults to have them.

I used to have an imaginary friend. I'd still have him now, but I'm too embarrassed, so I talk to the dog instead

Sorry to hear you're ill ewe: sounds like terrible timing. I hope you'll be able to catch up with the stuff from the missed lectures. Can you get lecture notes from someone? Get well soon.

I'm rationing my internet time for the rest of the week so I can get this essay written. Byeee!

English marks are in.....I got 69% woohaa I'm really, really happy with it. Phew 2 down 1 to go.

I got no research done today, too much fretting.

Sorry to hear people are illing, how is everyones work going?

jaq - perhaps it did go to moderation to see if they could squeeze you a 70 then? well done!

mia - have a think about it anyway. someone from (one of lol) the uni's i went to did a ug dissertation on prostitution in aberdeen - inc field research. she's done v well for herself and is something of an expert, relied upon by all sorts of policy makers etc etc, purely because she found a niche...

so don't dismiss it out of hand - sometimes it pays to think big. tutors hate it lol, and always try and talk you down, but worth considering... (did i say that last time? ...)

sending healthy vibes to all the sickies!

I'm afraid I'm too far down the line to really change direction on my dissertation now madwomanintheattic, I need to get my research completed by the end of March!!!

Just been reading an old thread on studying and perfectionism. I noticed both molesworth and madwomanintheattic on there. Have either of you managed to resolve your perfectionist tendencies?

I have a fear I'm going to end up self sabotaging myself with my final assignments for fear of not getting a first. How stupid is that? I'm currently avoiding doing any work at all because I'm worried that it won't be good enough. Seems like I've lost all sense of logic

Hello ladies,

Sorry no personals my brain is rather shot but congrats to all the marks.... so pleased for you all and that all the hard work is paying off. I wrotemy first essay for 12 years last term and got 61% and was over the moon as had set a target of 40%, but it means it was a "very good pass" (just by 2%) but has really motivatedthis term.

My week off with the builders (kitchen and bathroom looking lovely but not finshed) has resulted in a full first draft of my theory essay and an expanded intro and very detailed bullet points that need sentences) second essay but I till have lots of reading for the second one.

Hello to all.

Mia - what is your topic again? Perhaps if you can get a structure sorted you'll be able to make a start? I find putting the headings down on pages is a good starting point. As is just writing down everything I feel or think about the topic and just getting it off my chest, this part usually gets scrapped by the end.

I understand the perfectionist tendencies, I never feel like my work is good enough but I had a compliment from a professor yesterday who said my writing was well above Masters level, and that saw me through today with confidence, the perfectionism crisis is returning now though.

So my UG teaching foray went well I think. I felt quite at home and not too nervous once I got going. The group seemed to enjoy the session and their lecturer also was pleased and has asked me back. Yay! I also have a PhD supervisor - well two actually - so now just need to secure funding. I have spent all day on my research proposal instead of on my dissertation write up as planned and feel like I'm getting nowhere. It is like learning a whole new skill, for which I feel grossly underprepared!

Jacqueline - You could use your own children as a route into a sample? There are challenges with this but it is possible. Perhaps you could base your research in/around the school your children are attending/will attend?

Evening all, another week gone and no more work done whoops!

Well done on UG teaching Lenni, sounds like you did really well. What subject did you lecture on?

My children are too young for my dissertation, they are 4, 4, and 2. I really want to concentrate at secondary level.

I was considering deprived are vs affluent area case study, but have decided to try and simplify it. So I thought why not go down the free school meal route, but that's about as far as I have got.

Getting nowhere fast springs to mind, someone pleaseeeee focus me and stop me flitting around!

Your dissertation ideas sound great Jaq - what's the word count on it and how long do you have to complete it?

One downside of being an OU student: no third year project/dissertation. Upside of being an OU student: you can get your specified level 3 (i.e. third year) courses under your belt whenever you want (I did mine in years 3 and 4), which means less stress about degree classification.

Re: perfectionism, I've definitely improved on this front. It never really goes away, but then perfectionism is only a problem if it gets out of hand and stops you from completing (or even starting) work. But I do still procrastinate a lot. I've got an essay due on Tuesday and could easily have completed it this week, but no. It's only half done

re perfectionist tendencies - no, still ongoing lol!

right, huge favour to ask any of you that might need distraction from work (that'll be none of you then), or who want to live vicariously for a moment or two...

could you have a look at the university of calgary phd program and tell me what you think? (pretty please) particularly those of you who may be heading for phd sooner or later - interested to know how you think it would compare to standard uk phd.... particularly wrt funding/ teaching?

i had pretty much got my act together re uk application, but it now looks like we might not be going back to the uk for the forseeable... which would render anything but ou unworkable really. so instead of working this week i've been in 'where are we going to be living' turmoil!

jaq - what about feeding in parental support and how it affects academic outcome? and see if academic support is influenced by household income/ parental work status? (would be a really innocuous question on a questionnaire). you could look at single and joint parent households, find out whether one or both parents work...

should add - i know naff all about educational theory lol, but there must be bucketloads of stuff in existence.

lenni, well done - i'm so excited for you, this is definitely your way in to everything, it's brilliant!

So many ideas for you Jacqueline, not sure where to start!!

To contrast children from different backgrounds you wouldn't really need to sample two areas. If you choose any school you are going to have a mixture of socio-economic backgrounds, even if the deviation from average is smaller in some areas than others. If you choose your school carefully (edge of urban areas a good target, semi-rural but in close proximity to a large conurbation also good, or anywhere urban with a split ward catchment) you should find you get a greater mix. This way you are minimising your efforts for data collection. At UG level you don't want data collection to run on for more than two weeks to get it all written up in time and that is going to include secondary sources so I would think 5 days in the school would be all you could afford. I would start working through all your contacts now as it will take time to negotiate access.

Are you a quantitative or qualitative type? If you like interviewing there is absolutely loads of things I can think of, but I'm not a quantitative person (despite being a Physics teacher in a previous existence!) so ideas on that less easy.

Parental involvement in education is a hot topic at the moment. As is 'intergenerational transmission of educational success' (you'll find a report called that for Joseph Rowntree Foundation if interested) where you could look statistically at parental academic achievement compared to their children's achievement.

Madwoman - I will have a look tomorrow on the way to the zoo. My head is now mashed from writing funding proposal. Off to bed.

I'm excited too, just don't want to get ahead of myself.

Just submitted my essay. And a day before the deadline. WOO

How's everyone getting on?

Well done Molesworth.

I have lost all my motivation. I haven't done any work for over a week.

I just can't wait to be finished but that's not going to happen if I don't start doing some work.

I'm getting married in June so when I'm supposed to be getting on with my dissertation and essays, I'm actually looking at rings and dresses.

lol mia, i got married in the march of my second year, so i know how you feel! (and gave birth to dd1 three months before my final dissertation was due - hilarious. i must have been insane ) you'll get there, just keep at it! life will always get in the way of the 'ideal' amount of study you want to do!

twice during courses i've actually been called up by the reserve (am ex-forces) for six months as well. it makes life interesting . as of last september they can't do that any more though! (although am stuck with following dh around the world lol, hence now trying to finish msc about 4000 miles from where i started it... ho hum..) at least you will know you have the right dress! some things take time!

well done moley! a day before the deadline! that never happens here, am truly a last-minute girl. i got called in to work all last week in the end, so am now well behind again. i'm refusing to do any hours next week though, so it'll be full-on dawn 'til dusk stuff so i can get some of this outstanding stuff put away!

(still looking for opinions on u of c though, hint hint ) i promise i won't spend all week re-writing a new app!

Nyargh, it must be so hard to focus on studying when you're planning your wedding (congratulations btw!)

Mad, I had a quick shufty at the Calgary programme (well, I looked at sociology). But I'm a clueless undergrad whose only knowledge of PhD programmes comes from looking at 872 UK university websites trying to come up with a postgrad plan of action, so I doubt I can offer any useful feedback. I did get the impression is more structured than a UK programme (but then it's 4 years with the first year looking like an MRes). So it looks like in Canada you're expected to do the equivalent of two UK Master's degrees: the first one to meet the PhD programme entry requirements and the second one being the research methods training in the first year. The teaching component and professional preparation also look less 'ad hoc' than the UK programmes I've looked at (I don't know if these are ad hoc in practice though ... perhaps it's just that UK universities don't make it as explicit on their websites as Calgary does). For what it's worth (i.e. not much) I think the programme looks great. I'd love to do a subject Master's before going on to an MRes, but I can only afford to do one, so an MRes it'll have to be.

I didn't spend long enough on the website to look up funding information, so no idea how you'd stand on that, sorry. Is there any funding available for international students? How much would it cost to self fund?