3 Things We Can Learn From Schools In Japan
By: Ashley Walker
Tags: Culture, Awareness, Lifestyle, Mindfulness, Education

3 Things We Can Learn From Schools In Japan

They just may surprise you.

Image by Michelle Maria from Pixabay

Schools in Japan are a whole different ball game than schools in the U.S. I taught English in Japan for a few years, working at various Junior High Schools and loved it. Japan is a very strict country when it comes to education, and they require certain behaviors from their students (and teachers!).

First off, you’ll be asked to exchange the shoes you’re wearing for an “indoor” pair. The students all have their own personal shoe lockers for this, and if you’re a teacher like I was, you’ll have a little cubby to keep your indoor shoes in as well. Same thing if you need to use the restroom, you’ll leave your indoor shoes at the door and slip on a pair of designated “bathroom sandals” left there.

For us westerners this may seem a bit extreme, but I don’t think anyone would complain at the cleanliness throughout all the schools. And when you see other things they practice at school, you just may be making a call to your child’s administrator with a few pointers.

To start off —

School lunch is prepared by the students and served in the classrooms

A healthy, nutritious lunch is brought into the school daily. When it arrives, students with the assignment come and get the portion allotted for their homeroom. They then prepare lunch for their classmates on individual trays, with a variation of rice, miso soup loaded with veggies, fish and a carton of milk.

The students all have their own personal set of chopsticks they bring (or keep at the school) to eat their meals with. Lunch can be a pretty quiet affair, with just the soft hum or voices in the classroom. You’re not going to find shouting or food fights here!

Once the students eat all their food (even if they don’t like it) they return their trays and dishes to the front. The students on lunch duty then bring it back to the administrators, all in a very organized fashion. They then move on to the next step.

Every student is required to brush their teeth after lunch

Once the students are done eating, they all file out to the sinks where they have their individual toothbrushes stored. Many schools have a little hourglass timer, which they then flip for the students to brush through the duration.

Some students do a better job then others, sure, but they all put those toothbrushes in their mouths. A student would be teased mercilessly for bringing a toothbrush to school in the U.S., but in Japan it’s normal. I don’t know what the rate of cavities is in Japan, but it has to better than other places!

There is a mandatory “cleaning time” for 30 minutes when school ends

Probably my favorite thing they do in Japanese schools is have the students be the janitors. Because there is no one hired to do it, these kids are much more conscious of how they treat their school. Which, in return, makes them more respectful of how they treat other places!

For the next thirty minutes when school ends, students grab cleaning supplies and head to their assigned areas. They then scrub floors, wipe down tables and so on. The school is filled with all its students hard at work to keep it clean, which is a pretty cool site.