Kamishibai as a Medium for Course Innovation and Real-World Outcomes

Absztrakt

This paper reports on the redesign of the English Children’s Literature course for final-year students in the part-time English-language Kindergarten Educator BA programme at Apor Vilmos Catholic College. The course innovation combined a Flipped Classroom approach with a University–Business Cooperation (UBC) project, integrating theoretical knowledge, pedagogical skills, and professional practice within the constraints of limited face-to-face instruction. Central to the UBC component was the creation of a bilingual kamishibai tale, The Little Red Hen, accompanied by a teacher’s resource, an Activity Bank, developed collaboratively by students and professional partners. Using a practical action research design, data were collected through interviews, questionnaires, course documentation, instructors’ journals, partner communications, and students’ reflections. Findings indicate that the Flipped Classroom facilitated autonomous learning while maximizing in-person sessions for collaborative application, and that participation in the UBC project enhanced students’ creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and professional competence. Moreover, stakeholders’ collaboration proved a significant driver of curricular innovation, producing an authentic teaching resource and expanding students’ methodological repertoire in early English language development. The study demonstrates the potential of combining flipped learning with real-world projects to foster reflective, practice-oriented teacher education.