The literature study programme trial: Challenging constructions of English in the Seychelles

This paper provides an outline of the development and trialling during 2004 of the Literature Study Programme (LSP), a literature programme designed for use in the junior secondary classes of Seychelles. The programme was developed as a teaching and learning component concerned with the study of literature within the English language programme in the Seychelles, which had been hitherto absent in both the enacted and intended English language curriculum of the country. This paper reports on the structure and organisation of the LSP, its design philosophy, the assessment procedures employed, the results of the evaluation, and the implications for teaching literature at the junior secondary level in Seychelles. The results of the evaluation show a high level of support for literature as an area of study by both students and teachers. The programme as an initial design for teaching literature has also received a high level of approval from participants. Recommendations for the programme are also highlighted in this paper. The writer concludes with a word of caution against relegating literature study to the background

L’entreprise familiale en Algérie : Quelle politique financière?

This paper proposes to carry out identification and a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the levels of responsibility of the actors in the problem of financing family SMEs in Algeria. A study carried out on a sample of 120 SMEs from the wilaya of Tizi-Ouzou, allowed us to conclude that self-financing remains the essential (and preferred) source of financing for investments. We also note the predominance of entrepreneurs' recourse to the mode of financing family networks, particularly when starting their activities. The study also found that the more the company invests, the more it uses external cash flow after exhausting internal sources. Finally, we noted that there is a lack of awareness of specific programs for financing family SMEs on the part of owner-managers, thus limiting the choice of financing to conventional bank loans which are more expensive and less accessible.Ce papier se propose d’effectuer une identification et une évaluation qualitative et quantitative des niveaux de responsabilité des acteurs dans le problème de financement des PME familiales en Algérie. Une étude réalisée sur un échantillon de 120 PME de la wilaya de Tizi-Ouzou, nous a permis de conclure que l'autofinancement demeure la source incontournable (et préférée) de financement des investissements. On note également, la prédominance du recours des entrepreneurs au mode de financement des réseaux familiaux particulièrement lors du démarrage de leurs activités. L'étude a révélé aussi, que plus l'entreprise investit, plus elle a recours à l’autofinancement externe après avoir épuisé les sources internes. Enfin, on a constaté, l'existence d'une méconnaissance des programmes spécifiques de financement des PME familiales de la part des propriétaires-dirigeants, limitant ainsi le choix de financement aux crédits bancaires conventionnels plus coûteux et moins accessibles

10α-Hy­droxy-4,9-dimethyl-13-(morph­o­lin-4-ylmeth­yl)-3,8,15-trioxatetra­cyclo­[10.3.0.02,4.07,9]penta­decan-14-one

The title compound, C19H29NO6, was synthesized from 9α-hy­droxy­parthenolide (9α-hy­droxy-4,8-dimethyl-12-methyl­ene-3,14-dioxatricyclo­[9.3.0.02,4]tetra­dec-7-en-13-one), which was isolated from the chloro­form extract of the aerial parts of Anvillea radiata. The mol­ecule contains a fused five- and ten-membered ring system. The ten-membered ring adopts an approximate chair–chair conformation, while the five-membered ring is in an envelope conformation, with the C atom closest to the hy­droxy group forming the flap. In the crystal, weak C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds connect the mol­ecules into layers parallel to (001). An intra­molecular O—H⋯N hydrogen bond is also present

10α-Hy­droxy-4,9-dimethyl-13-[(4-phenyl­piperazin-1-yl)meth­yl]-3,8,15-trioxatetra­cyclo­[10.3.0.02,4.07,9]tetra­decan-14-one

The title compound, C25H34N2O5, was synthesized from 9α-hy­droxy­parthenolide (9α-hy­droxy-4,8-dimethyl-12-methyl­ene-3,14-dioxatricyclo­[9.3.0.02,4]tetra­dec-7-en-13-one), which was isolated from the chloro­form extract of the aerial parts of Anvillea radiata. The mol­ecule contains a fused five- and ten-membered ring system. The ten-membered ring adopts an approximate chair–chair conformation, while the five-membered ring is in an envelope conformation, with the C atom closest to the hy­droxy group forming the flap. The piperazine ring is in a chair conformation. In the crystal, O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds connect mol­ecules into chains along [100]. Weak inter­molecular C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds are also present

(1S,2R,3R,6R,7S,8R,10S,11S)-13-{[4-(4-Chloro­phen­yl)piperazin-1-yl]meth­yl}-10-hy­droxy-4,9-dimethyl-3,8,15-trioxatetra­cyclo­[10.3.0.02,4.07,9]penta­decan-14-one

The title compound, C25H33ClN2O5, was synthesized from 9α-hy­droxy­parthenolide (9α-hy­droxy-4,8-dimethyl-12-methyl­ene-3,14-dioxatricyclo­[9.3.0.02,4]tetra­dec-7-en-13-one), which was isolated from the chloro­form extract of the aerial parts of Anvillea radiata. The mol­ecule is built up from fused five- and ten-membered rings with two additional ep­oxy ring systems and a chloro­phenyl­piperazine group as a substituent. The ten-membered ring adopts an approximate chair–chair conformation, while the piperazine ring displays a chair conformation and the five-membered ring shows an envelope conformation with the C atom closest to the hy­droxy group forming the flap. The mol­ecular conformation is stabilized by an intra­molecular O—H⋯N hydrogen bond between the hy­droxy group and a piperazine N atom. The crystal structure is stabilized by weak C—H⋯O inter­actions

10α-Hy­droxy-4,9-dimethyl-13-(pipyridin-1-ylmethyl)-3,8,15-trioxatetra­cyclo­[10.3.0.02,4.07,9]tetra­decan-14-one

The title compound, C20H31NO5, was synthesized from 9α-hy­droxy­parthenolide (9α-hy­droxy-4,8-dimethyl-12-methylen-3,14-dioxa-tricyclo­[9.3.0.02,4]tetra­dec-7-en-13-one), which was isolated from the chloro­form extract of the aerial parts of Anvillea radiata. The mol­ecule is built up from fused five-and ten-membered rings with the pipyridin-1-yl-methyl group as a substituent. The ten-membered ring adopts an approximate chair–chair conformation, while the six- and five-membered rings display chair and envelope conformations, respectively. The dihedral angle between the mean planes of the ten-membered ring and the lactone ring is 20.8 (3)°. An intra­molecular O—H⋯N hydrogen-bond occurs. The crystal structure is stabilized by weak inter­molecular C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds

The Development of Seychellois Primary School Teachers' Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching and Self-Efficacy Beliefs through Reflective Practice: A Quasi-experimental Study

Primary school pupils in Seychelles are underperforming with low standards of proficiency in mathematics, relative to local and international benchmarks. There are concerns that primary school teachers might not have the appropriate Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (MKT) nor confidence to teach mathematics. While it is widely accepted that MKT, and self-efficacy beliefs that assist the development of MKT, are important for effective teaching, less is known about how they are enhanced through reflective practice (RP). Enhancing teachers’ MKT and self-efficacy beliefs is important because these have been connected to pupils’ achievement. This mixed-methods research explores to what extent the MKT sub-domains, MKT self-efficacy beliefs, and Mathematics Teaching Self-efficacy (MTSE), of seventeen in-service primary school teachers, in the areas of number concepts, number operations and word problem solving, are enhanced through RP. Using a pragmatic approach, this multiple case study integrates inductive designs and quasi-experimental methodologies to analyse reflective journals, semi-structured interviews, pre-post-tests, and pre-post questionnaire surveys, within an interpretivist paradigm. Independent-samples t-test, Paired-samples t-test, Cluster analysis, and Difference in Differences (DiD) methodology were used to analyse the quantitative data. The qualitative data were analysed thematically. This study employed Desimone’s professional development framework, Mezirow’s transformative learning theory (TLT), and the social-constructivist theory as conceptual and theoretical lenses respectively to frame this research. Analysis of the quantitative data revealed that there were no statistically significant differences between the intervention group and the control group in their MKT sub-domains and MTSE. However, the DiD estimator showed that the intervention group had a systematic increase in both their MKT sub-domains and MTSE levels through RP. On the other hand, there was statistically significant difference in the MKT self-efficacy beliefs between the intervention and control groups. Seven themes wove through the teachers’ ‘stories’, thus supporting positive influence of RP on MKT sub-domains, MKT self-efficacy, and MTSE of the teachers. Merging the qualitative and quantitative evidence indicated that the ten weeks of RP of the teachers started to have positive effects on their MKT and self-efficacy beliefs; not identified in previous studies. The teachers expressed positive change in their MKT and self-efficacy beliefs pertaining to the teaching of word problem solving strategies. Nevertheless, the results also demonstrated that educational change is difficult and requires commitment and time. This research makes two original contributions to knowledge. Firstly, to the MKT literature through a proposed framework for teachers’ MKT growth through RP. Secondly, to Bandura’s sources of efficacy theory through a typology of teachers’ self-efficacy growth through RP. The findings of this study are proposed as frameworks for teachers’ professional growth in the context of Seychelles and also in Small Island Developing States (SIDS)

10α-Hy­droxy-13-{[4-(2-hy­droxy­phen­yl)piperazin-1-yl]meth­yl}-4,9-dimethyl-3,8,15-trioxatetra­cyclo­[10.3.0.02,4.07,9]penta­decan-14-one

The title compound, C25H34N2O6, was synthesized from 9α-hy­droxy­parthenolide (9α-hy­droxy-4,8-dimethyl-12-methyl­ene-3,14-dioxatricyclo­[9.3.0.02,4]tetra­dec-7-en-13-one), which was isolated from the chloro­form extract of the aerial parts of Anvillea radiata. The ten-membered ring adopts an approximate chair–chair conformation, while the piperazine ring displays a near regular chair conformation and the five-membered ring an envelope conformation with the C atom closest to the hy­droxy group forming the flap. The mol­ecular conformation is stabilized by an O—H⋯N hydrogen bond, which generates an S(7) loop, and the crystal structure features weak C—H⋯O inter­actions

10α-Hy­droxy-4,9-dimethyl-13-[(pyrrol­idin-1-yl)meth­yl]-3,8,15-trioxatetra­cyclo­[10.3.0.02,4.07,9]penta­decan-14-one

The title compound, C19H29NO5, was synthesized from 9α-hy­droxy­parthenolide (9α-hy­droxy-4,8-dimethyl-12-methyl­ene-3,14-dioxatricyclo­[9.3.0.02,4]tetra­dec-7-en-13-one), which was isolated from the chloro­form extract of the aerial parts of Anvillea radiata. The mol­ecule is built up from two fused five- and ten-membered rings with the (pyrrolidin-4-yl)methyl group as a substituent. The two five-membered ring display the same envelope conformations, whereas the ten-membered ring adopts an approximate chair–chair conformation. The dihedral angle between the ten-membered ring and the lactone ring is 21.81 (9)°. An intra­molecular O—H⋯N hydrogen bond stabilizes the mol­ecular conformation. In the crystal, inter­molecular C—H⋯O inter­actions link the mol­ecules into chains parallel to the c axis