YSO Kids Club (Seocho)

The Vibe

The Hunger Games Capitol rebranded as a hagwon, with management operating in permanent SWAT mode.

Constant Phone Calls After Hours (Including Late Nights and Weekends)

YSO will not leave teachers alone. As if the Kakao chats weren't hellish enough ([redacted]), the phone calls do not stop coming! If a teacher doesn't answer the phone, more staff can call them, putting lots of pressure on them.

All the Managers

Here's a manager, there's a manager! This makes for a very bloated middle management with lots of nitpicking and power plays. Teachers don't know what's going on because they are all told different things.

Teachers Are Always Under the Microscope

It's yoga and one student isn't doing his downward dog as gracefully as the girl next to him. Can't you see? That's awful. What kind of educator does that? Another little girl's mat isn't perfectly straight. That's a problem.

When grading books: a student made more of an oval *right over there* instead of a circle. The book explicitly says the child must draw 15 CIRCLES. But a teacher gave 15 checkmarks. That means they approved of an imperfection. Oh no!

During "classroom inspections," an admin can enter a teacher's room solely to find fault. That percentage score paper a teacher hung? Admin claims it's slightly crooked. Reprimand incoming!

The rules are arbitrary and inconsistently applied. Each day, teachers can be critiqued for dozens of miniscule whatevers that management loves to blow out of proportion.

Bully Culture

In most normal dumpster fire hagwons, directors see you as a cash cow. Just smile and make them money. Here, that's not enough. [redacted]

Revolving Door

KTs are treated terribly here and can't be kept. KTs will develop "health issues" and quit. The good ones always leave. [redacted] Because of the revolving door, teachers may often be alone in your classroom, expected to handle everything all by themselves.

The Books

At YSO, teachers will go from being a typical hagwon babysitter to a drill sergeant overnight.

These books are a teacher's entire life.

Management storms in for "book checks" like a SWAT team. Teachers are expected to walk around with an eraser and eliminate every minor imperfection. Every single item must have a perfect-looking checkmark.

Did a teacher grade a child's gobbledygook with a heart in crayon on a "miscellaneous fun doodle page"? That could be a talk (unpaid) after hours.

Teachers must perfectly evaluate every letter, shape, font size, spelling, and punctuation. Mistakes are erased (by the teacher) until perfection is achieved. Does a teacher have a dozen kindy kids, 20 minutes remaining, and three workbook pages left to complete? Good luck!

Everything Is a Broadway Production

Everyone is so stressed from xxxxxxx passive aggressive emotional spells that the whole school feels like a pressure cooker.

Teachers can expect nonsense like being interrupted during precious class time if a random hair clip is found on the floor. Management will barge in and stop instruction for a good 15 minutes to locate its rightful owner.

Because of xxxxx, middle management feels the heat. This also makes middle management very emotional. Expect virtually anything to be filtered through them as if the sky is falling.

No one seems to know what's actually a priority and no one remembers that this is…a kindergarten.

Kids With Issues/ No Behavioral Plan

[redacted] [redacted]

One severely disruptive child can destroy the entire class dynamic. [redacted] Who wants to deal extreme scary behavior?

Even so, xxxxxx does not care. Teachers, KTs, and even front desk staff are regularly overwhelmed. [redacted]

Percentages

Monthly student assessments are publicly posted and used to make teachers compete against each other. Did a teacher get a 97% last month and a 96% this month? One teacher's might be in red, which is a signature Director move. Does a teacher have children with disabilities or serious behavioral issues? No grace. No exceptions. It especially sucks for teachers that are stuck with the "castoff kids". They work so hard and it isn't their fault.

Spreadsheet Nonsense / Endless Assessments

In addition to teaching, checking your Kakao group chat every five minutes to see what mood xxxxxx is in, smiling and nodding, daily assessments, progress reports, weekly reports, teachers are expected to complete CALCULATORS (detailed excel sheets for each and every class). When? Unpaid overtime!

It's All About Tech… But Where's the Tech?

Copiers and printers are almost always in use. Files are constantly moved or renamed without notice. Lots of weird acronyms that make management feel that the school is more important than it is. Systems are down. Lots of things aren't working when teachers need it. Most of the staff have no idea how to troubleshoot it. Teachers lose massive chunks of class time just trying to function. It's hard to teach the lesson when you don't have the materials needed.

Five Minute Breaks / Bathroom Policing

A teacher's "five minute break" includes taking students down. Then, they're expected to give little daily tests to the next batch of kids. Teachers can get reprimanded for using the bathroom during class time. There seems to be a very limited understanding that teachers are actually human beings.

Paying Out of Pocket / Fishy Pay

[redacted]

Still Demanding Money Long After You're Gone

Some teachers have received ominous messages months after finishing their contract, demanding they pay several hundred thousand won, accompanied only by a screenshot of unexplained numbers.