Clear skies ahead: optimizing the learning environment for critical thinking from a qualitative analysis of interviews with expert teachers

INTRODUCTION: The learning environment refers to the physical, pedagogical, and psychosocial contexts in which learning occurs and critically influences the educational experience of trainees in the health professions. However, the manner in which individual faculty explicitly organize the educational setting to facilitate learning of essential competencies such as critical thinking deserves more examination; lack of attention to this component can undermine the formal curriculum. The purpose of our study was to examine how faculty shape the learning environment to advance their learners’ development of critical thinking. METHODS: We took a constructivist grounded theory approach using the framework method for qualitative content analysis. Data were derived from interviews conducted with 44 faculty identified as skilled teachers of critical thinking at eight academic health professions institutions. RESULTS: Three major themes emerged regarding participants’ descriptions of their experiences of how they optimized the learning environment to support critical thinking: 1) Setting the atmosphere (establishing ground rules, focusing on process rather than answers, and building trust), 2) Maintaining the climate (gently pushing learners, tolerating discomfort, and adjusting to learner level), and 3) Weathering the storm (responses to challenges to learning critical thinking, including time and effort, negative evaluations, and resistance to effortful learning). DISCUSSION: An optimal learning environment for critical thinking was actively created by faculty to establish a safe environment and shared understanding of expectations. Understanding how to produce a conducive learning climate is paramount in teaching essential topics such as critical thinking. These findings have potential utility for faculty development initiatives to optimize the learning environment. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s40037-019-00536-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.