Helen Wong Hing-ying, a trainer at children’s education institute Math Monkey, previously worked as a teacher in primary schools and education centres. She tells Wong Yat-hei that her teaching experience saw her discover a love for interacting with children, and she believes that Math Monkey’s interactive teaching style inspires them to think and learn better.
What is your academic background?
I graduated from Fu Jen Catholic University in Taiwan with a bachelor of fine arts degree in communication arts.
What does your day involve?
The first thing I do is prepare teaching materials for the children. Then I have a daily meeting with colleagues. We talk about the daily lesson schedule and students’ learning progress. If there are any difficulties, we will try to come up with solutions to help students with their learning. Towards the end of the day, I will get in touch with parents to inform them of their children’s progress.
What does your job entail?
My core duty is to teach. I not only teach children to come up with the right answer, I motivate them to discover maths patterns by themselves. Besides teaching, I have to communicate with parents and help them understand Math Monkey’s teaching concept. I also discuss with them how to help their children improve their learning.
What are the major challenges you’ve encountered so far?
The major challenge is how to get parents to understand that Math Monkey’s game-based learning is good for children. Almost as challenging is ensuring that children understand the concept of maths, as well as inspiring their love for the subject.
What are your plans?
My short-term goal is to become a better teacher and co-operate with colleagues to run the centre effectively. My long-term professional aim is to be promoted to a management position in the Math Monkey franchise.
What advice can you give those interested in the industry?
They need to get along with children. They have to have a passion to be a responsible teacher, and be willing to learn different things. They also need to be really patient if they want to get along well with children.
