Doing the rounds on the interweb this week is the lunchtime ritual in Japan.

Having taught in public schools in the Republic of Korea this brings back fond memories.

Yes we had an on-site kitchen.

Yes the children eat in class, taking turns to serve each other.

Yes the children are responsible for keeping the school clean.

There were no special kits, but lunch was a big a deal.

What always impressed me was the degree of responsibility that the children had for their environment – cleaning up and keeping the school environment clean is seen as part of a child’s daily education.

It’s very easy to talk about responsibility but actually handing it over the kids?

Thats another thing altogether.