The New Edition of the Chinese Language Curriculum was introduced in all secondary schools in September 2002 Major features of the reform cultivate the migration from a single model passage to a more holistic teaching unit, teaching focus has switched from just reading and writing to comprehensive aspects of speaking, reading, listening and writing While the role of a teacher has shifted from dominating to facilitating, the role of the students has shifted from a passive receptor to an active learner The aim of language teaching has changed from imparting language knowledge to cultivating generic skills As a whole, the New Edition of the Chinese Language Curriculum has extended the work scope of the teachers in their curriculum and teaching decision making For instance, they are able to adjust the course books according to the circumstances of the school Adjusting the course books or developing school specific teaching resources is a complicated task which requires co-operation and creative input of the teachers With this in mind, some schools have started the reform of the Chinese Language subject by allocating a common planning period, making room for the teachers to increase their opportunities in curriculum input and decision making The present research started in the second year after the introduction of the New Edition of the Chinese Language Curriculum By applying qualitative research methods, five schools were chosen as case studies, with the teachers of Secondary One as research target, to explore the state of teachers' participation in the curriculum decision making, to understand how the curriculum decisions were made within a subject team, and to investigate the factors influencing the decision making The data was collected via interviews, participatory observations and document analysis
The study reveals that at present, schools have not carried out any restructuring because of individual subject reforms The common planning period in certain schools

This study undertakes a new attempt in theory and practice in curriculum design in mathematics, which includes an operational model, its theoretical interpretation and experimentation
The operational model, called Spiral bianshi (literally means variation) Curriculum, is extracted from the use of connecting problem clusters, one of the prominent features in current practice in mathematics instruction in Mainland China, the origin of which can be traced back to the Qingpu experience in Shanghai in the 1980s Such a long history of practice was conceptualized according to the nature of mathematics and mathematics learning The Spiral bianshi Curriculum comprises four components: The inductive bianshi which abstract mathematics notions from realistic situations, the deepening bianshi which lead one to new concepts and rules from already established one, the broadening bianshi which connects various concepts which are already acquired and the applicative bianshi which helps learners applying concepts and rules to more realistic situations
Division of fraction was taken as the topic for experimentation The corresponding bianshi curriculum was designed and experimented in 14 classes in three Primary schools in Hong Kong The other 13 classes in three comparable schools were taken as control group
The students' cognitive learning outcomes and self-efficacy were measured before and after the experimentation by means of a pre-test and a post-test The students' approach to learning and other affective variables were measured too
Significant positive results were obtained by the spiral bianshi curriculum The post-test scores of learning outcomes in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in the control group while all these scores indicated no significant differences in the pre-tests among these two groups The students in the experimental group reflected that they have clearer relevant concepts than their counterparts They also understood