Cleaning Time at Japanese Schools

Ms. Kyoko Abe
Professor, Department of Education and Culture, Faculty of Education, Teikyo University

Profile:
After working at an elementary school in Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture, served as Education Supervisor for the Saitama City Board of Education and as Vice Principal of a Saitama City elementary school. From 2015, served as Senior Specialist for Curriculum in the School Curriculum Division of the Elementary and Secondary Education Bureau at MEXT, and as Curriculum Inspector in the Dept. for Curriculum Development of the Curriculum Research Center at the National Institute for Educational Policy Research (NIER). From 2022, served as Senior School Inspector of the Elementary and Secondary Education Bureau at MEXT, and as Coordinator for Student Guidance and Extracurricular Activities of the Student Guidance and Career Counseling Center at NIER. Assumed current position in 2024.

What is Cleaning Time in Japanese Schools?

In Japanese school education, cleaning time is considered an extracurricular activity. Although it is not included in the standard number of class hours stipulated by the current curriculum guidelines, it has been implemented by individual schools as part of the educational curriculum to achieve the goals of school education. Special Activities are also considered extracurricular learning, but they have been positioned within the curriculum guidelines since 1958. They play an important role in the curriculum, fostering children’s social skills and promoting comprehensive personal development.

While cleaning had always been considered a class activity under Special Activities because of its role in understanding the significance of work, the current curriculum guidelines (2017) state that cleaning “plays an important role in helping students understand the significance of work and in raising their awareness of social participation.” It emphasizes that cleaning should not be done merely as a shift or a job, but rather to understand its significance—such as working for everyone and the importance of recognizing one’s role and working together with friends—and to recognize the need for everyone to create a better life together. In the curriculum guidelines announced in 2017, which I helped develop as a Senior Specialist for Curriculum at MEXT, we newly established “accumulating experiences and achieving self-actualization for each individual” and “fostering awareness of social participation and understanding the significance of work” as part of the content of class activities in elementary schools. For example, cleaning time is not merely about learning how to clean well; it also teaches the meaning of work and emphasizes actively thinking about and acting on what is necessary to fulfill one’s role as a member of society. Taking on and fulfilling one’s role as a member of a group or society enhances the sense of self-worth, the feeling that one is useful to others, and also leads to the accumulation of experience.

It Also Relates to Self-Actualization, Striving to Live Better

Since my days as a teacher, I have always valued cleaning time.

Cleaning time fosters moral development: taking initiative, working together, considering the next person who will use the space, and helping others once one’s own tasks are complete. It also leads to social self-actualization, or the drive to live better in society, and the accumulation of experience—such as learning through interactions between different age groups, like older students teaching younger ones how to clean, or cleaning with gratitude for the school building that supports them.

I would like to share an example from an elementary school in Kyoto. The overall atmosphere at the school was unstable, with students throwing trash from the school building windows and back garden into a nearby parking lot. As a result, there were complaints from neighbors, forcing the teachers to close the windows facing nearby homes and restrict access to the back garden adjacent to the parking lot. The back garden was located on high ground, offering a great view and being a nice place to spend time. The newly transferred principal addressed the sixth graders: “It’s such a lovely spot with a great view, and it’s a shame to keep it off-limits. I want to make it usable again. I’d like you to help me with this.” The children discussed it and got to work weeding the back garden, which had become overgrown. The sixth-grade homeroom teachers and the principal joined them and praised the children’s hard work many times. At a school-wide morning assembly, the principal introduced and praised the sixth graders for cleaning up the neglected back garden, making it look neat and tidy. This not only made the younger students feel grateful to the sixth graders but also changed how teachers from other grades viewed them. Furthermore, the sixth graders proposed planting flowers in the newly cleaned space to make it more enjoyable for everyone. In response, the PTA* and local community members collaborated to create flower beds. The children named it the “Friendship Plaza” and had discussions with each other to decide on rules for using it. Parents later built benches, and soon children could be seen chatting, reading books, and spending time together peacefully. The sixth graders gained a sense of self-worth, thinking, “It was worth working hard for everyone at school,” and a sense of self-efficacy, realizing, “We can do things if we try.” They became students whom the younger grades looked up to. In addition, a corner of the plaza was named the “Path of Growth.” Each year, members of the community plant and nurture fruit-bearing trees together with fifth graders, watching the trees grow alongside the children and deepening the connection between the school and the community. The school atmosphere changed dramatically, and the plaza remains beautifully maintained years later.

The key point here is that the children took the initiative to clean the back garden. They didn’t do it because they were told to; they cleaned it of their own accord. They experienced the satisfaction of seeing it become clean and enjoyable, and when everyone at school appreciated their efforts, their desire to try harder and be useful to others grew, fostering a spirit of altruism.

*Parent-Teacher Association (PTA): A voluntary organization independently formed and run by parents and staff to support the healthy growth of children attending the school

A Great Opportunity to See Another Side of Children

I believe that cleaning time, which also has moral significance and leads to the accumulation of experience, is a valuable Japanese educational activity that should be passed down. So, how can we ensure that children not only learn how to clean, but also understand its significance?

In many schools, older students help first-graders clean their classrooms at the start of the school year. Some schools have students from different grades work together to clean. Children learn things such as how to wring out a rag, use a broom and dustpan, handle a mop and bucket, and move desks without scratching the floor by watching their teachers and older students and doing it alongside them. For teachers, cleaning time is a valuable opportunity to see other sides of the children that aren’t visible during classwork, such as how they carefully wipe down every last corner with a rag or how kindly they teach the younger students. When their actions—such as fulfilling their roles responsibly or working together—are recognized and praised, it boosts their sense of self-worth and self-esteem, which then carries over into other educational activities.

Cleaning Changes the Mindset and Transforms Cities!

Overseas, some schools have started adopting Japan’s educational model by implementing Special Activities named “TOKKATSU.” Egypt is one such example.

In Egypt, President Sisi was deeply impressed when he visited a Japanese elementary school in 2016 and saw children cleaning and serving lunch themselves, as well as discussing and resolving classroom issues entirely on their own during class meetings. This inspired him to introduce “TOKKATSU” in his own country. Egypt-Japan Schools (EJS) were established, starting with initiatives like class meetings, daily duty rotations, and cleaning. Today, TOKKATSU is implemented in all Egyptian schools.
I have visited Egypt several times for observations and training guidance. When speaking with parents, they told me that they initially opposed the idea of cleaning, asking, “Why punish my child?” or “Let the people responsible for cleaning do it.” However, after their children started cleaning at school, parents noticed that their children began voluntarily tidying their rooms, helping with household chores, and teaching their siblings how to clean and organize, leading them to change their perspective.

Changes weren’t limited to school buildings and homes; Egyptian streets also transformed. When I revisited seven years after cleaning time was introduced, I was amazed to see how much cleaner the streets had become. It made me realize that when education changes, society changes too. Now, local residents and children discuss and work together to clean the streets, put up posters encouraging litter pickup, and engage in other initiatives contributing to better community development. Expectations are growing for TOKKATSU to also help foster a spirit of collaboration, where students proactively discuss and work together to clean not just to help others, but to improve their own lives and environment.

How Should We Value Learning from Cleaning Time?

Cleaning time is becoming less frequent and simpler due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and institutional reforms aimed at reducing teachers’ workload and shortening hours. What should we prioritize moving forward?

I believe it is crucial to clearly define the kind of school we want to create and the kind of children we want to nurture, as well as what we value during cleaning time and what skills we want children to develop, and to share this vision throughout the entire school.
First, rather than simply having children clean because it’s their turn, I believe it’s essential to confirm with them what the purpose of cleaning is and to ensure that children themselves truly understand the meaning of work and engage in activities proactively. For example: “The entrance is the face of our school, and we want visitors to feel welcome, so we should keep it clean,” or “Let’s figure out how to organize things so the next person can use them easily.”

Rather than simply promoting the slogan “Keep the school clean,” it is important for children themselves to understand the purpose and significance of cleaning, enabling them to proactively clean so that everyone at school can feel safe and comfortable. Furthermore, rather than teachers thinking, “It’s not that dirty, so it doesn’t need cleaning,” or “If we eliminate cleaning time, we can use that time for other activities,” it is crucial for them to watch over children’s actions and acknowledge their growth. Doing so is what will help build a society where children work together with diverse people, demonstrate their strengths and potential, and respect one another, ultimately becoming a driving force that paves the way for the future.