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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\u2019 development of critical thinking.\r\nMethods We took a\u00a0constructivist grounded theory approach using the framework method for qualitative content analysis. Data were derived from interviews conducted with 44\u00a0faculty identified as skilled teachers of critical thinking at eight academic health professions institutions.\r\nResults Three major themes emerged regarding participants\u2019 descriptions of their experiences of how they optimized the learning environment to support critical thinking: 1)\u00a0Setting the atmosphere (establishing ground rules, focusing on process rather than answers, and building trust), 2)\u00a0Maintaining the climate (gently pushing learners, tolerating discomfort, and adjusting to learner level), and 3)\u00a0Weathering the storm (responses to challenges to learning critical thinking, including time and effort, negative evaluations, and resistance to effortful learning).\r\nDiscussion 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<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1007\/s40037-019-00536-5","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,9,27]],"date-time":"2019-09-27T16:03:53Z","timestamp":1569600233000},"page":"289-297","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":20,"title":["Clear skies ahead: optimizing the learning environment for critical thinking from a&amp;nbsp;qualitative analysis of interviews with expert teachers"],"prefix":"10.5334","volume":"8","author":[{"given":"Lynn E.","family":"Jaffe","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Deborah","family":"Lindell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Amy M.","family":"Sullivan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2965-0341","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Grace C.","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"3285","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,9,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"536_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"246","DOI":"10.1097\/ACM.0b013e31827bfa14","volume":"88","author":"RB Shochet","year":"2013","unstructured":"Shochet\u00a0RB, Colbert-Getz\u00a0JM, Levine\u00a0RB, Wright\u00a0SM. 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