Bartley has started in each of the last four of Swansea's Premier League games, having made just four league appearances in total for the club in the previous two seasons prior to his current run in the side.
With Swansea up to sixth after a 2-0 home win over QPR on Tuesday, Monk has welcomed the defensive strength in depth that exists in his squad, singling out 23-year-old Bartley for praise.
"That's what I want, I want competition and I said that at the start of the season," said Monk.
"If you look at Jordi [Amat] that started the season in fantastic form, obviously Federico [Fernandez] had signed so Federico had to wait for his chance.
"Jordi unfortunately got injured, stepped in and did fantastic and now got an injury unfortunately and now look at Kyle Bartley.
"The centre-half options I have between the four of them, it's really competitive and you see that week in, week out, day in, day out and that's what I want.
"It's difficult decisions, but at this moment in time Kyle Bartley is performing very, very well.
"He still needs to improve in certain areas, which is where I work with him daily, but he's done very well in the games that he's played."
