Hong Kong
Training & Development
Monkey Tree provides all of its teachers with a comprehensive two week training program. During this training program teachers will be introduced to the various classes offered at Monkey Tree and will be given the various tools and methods needed to effectively teach these lessons. Our teacher trainers are experienced teachers themselves who are passionate about teaching and who work diligently to create a positive and welcoming environment for all our new members.
The majority of mornings during the training period take place at our Hong Kong Headquarters where teachers are given an introduction to life in Hong Kong, our Human Resources department, Monkey Tree classes, teaching techniques, cognitive development patterns of young learners and classroom management ideas. We strive to make our training program as engaging as possible through the use of various simulations, role plays, lesson presentations, group activities and self-study questionnaires.
In the afternoons, teachers will head to their respective training centers where they will gain hands-on experience while working with an established team. Teachers will learn how to prepare classes and will observe lessons before being encouraged to teach. Trainee lessons are always observed by an experienced teacher who will be on hand to help if there are any problems. Following lessons, trainee teachers will be given helpful feedback by experienced Head Teachers and teachers in order to help prepare them to teach lessons on their own.
TEFL
While you don’t need a teaching degree to be a teacher, you do need to be qualified with a TEFL certificate. TEFL certs come in all shapes and sizes, but if you’re going to invest in one, you’ll be investing in yourself. We don’t suggest that you sell yourself short by spending the time, money, and energy required in getting an unreliable or unrecognized certificate. Our partners at iTTT are offering any and all prospective Monkey Tree teachers the opportunity to get an automatic 15% off any course of their choosing. Follow this teflcourse link to automatically save 15% on your course.
Please remember that a minimum 100-hour TEFL course is required for getting a working visa as well as for employment at Monkey Tree!
Appraisals
After our teachers undergo an intensive training program, our Center Liaisons are responsible for ensuring teachers continue to offer beneficial lessons in the classroom. Through constant communication with their designated centers they work with teachers to help improve the quality of lessons and to offer any additional support they may need through open communication, regular feedback and an appraisal program.
The observation and appraisal process is one of the most important aspects of professional development here at Monkey Tree. Appraisals are completed by both Head Teachers and Center Liaisons on a regular basis to help ensure our teachers are properly prepared for their lessons and that they’re teaching the material in an effective, engaging, and suitable manner. This helpful feedback is designed to give our teachers the support and tools needed to excel within their roles.
Cert TESOL
Monkey Tree works closely with English For Asia (Hong Kong), who offer a Trinity CertTESOL course exclusively to Monkey Tree teachers.
The CertTESOL (equivalent to Cambridge CELTA) is among the highest ESL teaching qualifications you can get and it is available to our teachers. The CertTESOL is a basic job requirement for the British Council and other high-level English schools around the world. This
partnership is a great opportunity for our teachers to earn their CertTESOL certificate while working at Monkey Tree.
Workshops / Seminars
As Monkey Tree continues to grow, we strive to provide our teachers with opportunities for further career development. Accordingly, Monkey Tree offers workshops throughout the year that focus on practical and concrete strategies for common teaching tasks and challenges.
Through these workshops we hope to expose our teachers to new and useful strategies that they can apply in their daily lessons and which will help them to improve their overall teaching techniques and lessons.
Some of our past seminars have included Cambridge workshops that focused on topics related to the exam structure, student grading and Cambridge teaching methodology, and classroom management workshops that focused on ideas related to positive discipline methods and behavioral theories including behavioral patterns of young children. We work meticulously to make these workshops a useful and engaging forum through the use of various hands-on activities, sharing of ideas, and open discussions.
