An Analysis on the Competency-Oriented Integrated Curriculum of the International Baccalaureate Organization's "Individuals and Societies" Textbooks

The competency-oriented integrated curriculum design is a feature of Taiwan's Curriculum Guidelines for Grades 1-12. This study analyzes how the "Individuals and Societies" textbooks of the International Baccalaureate Organization design competency-oriented integrated curriculum. The research design involved textual analysis and interviews with textbook writers. Firstly, textual analysis was used to explore the features of competency-oriented curriculum design in the textbooks. Secondly, interviews with textbook writers were conducted to understand the theory and ideal behind the curriculum design. The study's findings are as follows: (1) The textbooks showed learner-centered components such as guiding, learning activity auxiliary, and reflective components. (2) The curriculum development focused on conceptual thinking in global contexts, effectively integrating relevant humanities and avoiding limited perspectives. (3) The curriculum adhered to the competencyoriented principles of contextualization, strategy, applicability, and self-regulation but lacked guidance on affective skills. (4) The contents emphasized the selection of themes related to living questions and guided inquiry tasks through visual and textual explanations; their curriculum structure and learning activities were organized based on the process of inquiry. These findings provide an alternative perspective and reference for designing Taiwan's Social Studies curriculum for junior high schools.