Twinkle (Mokdong)

Twinkle Mokdong is one of the most hellish academies I have ever worked at in Korea. It is absolutely nightmarish. Prepare to be micromanaged, watched, gaslit the entire step of the way. This place runs on snitch culture and the sheep who stay loyal to administration are able to get away with a lot while everyone else is under a microscope. [redacted] [redacted]

The expectations of the teachers are so high with the paragraph long comments that are expected to go out daily and all the grading. First of all, some of the students are so poorly behaved and the administration only makes empty gestures to try to get the students under control. The standard of acceptance does not match the rigor of the coursework which will make your job as a teacher hellish.

Not to mention they keep accepting kids with no standard when there aren't even enough classrooms for everyone. The quality of most classrooms is so old and poor and they're stingy with materials for teachers to use.

Prepare to babysit during your lunch break. You're expected to watch the kids during your 30 minute break time because there is nowhere for them to go. There also isn't anywhere for you to go as a teacher besides the overcrowded breakroom that doesn't have enough space for everyone.

They make the biggest issue out of the smallest things, stifling teachers and making it an unbearable place to work. When they make massive mistakes they brush it under the rug but will be quick to blame and attack their teachers. [redacted] [redacted] [redacted] The kids treat it as a stepping stone so they can get to a better academy.

The retention rate of this place is so poor, and that goes for foreign and Korean staff which is the biggest red flag of them all.

They have this high expectation for teachers when the people in charge do not meet those standards AT ALL. None of the management is able to keep up, but they attack teachers who don't kiss up to them. When you make a mistake they attack, but suddenly the rules become flexible for favorites or if they make the mistake.

This place will do their best to sound good on paper but it is absolutely a mess. They really do a great deal of marketing— betting on teachers having worse hagwon trauma, and try to act better in comparison. Work here at your own risk. You've been warned.

AND A REPLY: Jan 22, 2026, 2:16AM

Some of these facts are simply not true. Only our kindy teachers (4/20 that we have on staff - 16 are elementary) eat lunch with their students (and are informed of such during the interview to allow them to decide), and during a 40 minute lunch as part of a day where teaching ends at 2:30. regardless - as current manager im always happy to connect potential teachers with current teachers. We have a slack for better workplace communication and I could show the list of names and allow somebody to choose a few at random to be connected with. Lastly, no mistake has ever been met with an "attack"; merely calm, and rational conversation and efforts to support improvement. People make mistakes, myself included - that's how we learn.