111 Learning from the experts about their experiences and beliefs and often indicated feeling inspired and having learned something about themselves. Finally, we want to consider the inclusion of teachers with varying levels of expertise in this study. Although all participants met our inclusion criteria, some had more experience or qualifications than others. While this could be seen as a limitation, as it may influence the findings of our study, we argue that it was a strength. For example, during the interviews, all participants expressed that they value psychological safety. However, some were hesitant in describing how they achieved it, while others had developed comprehensive approaches they could articulate. This variation reinforces firstly the importance of psychological safety, and secondly the implication for faculty development for a comprehensive and contextualized approach, allowing teachers of varying levels of expertise to develop their competencies in engaging students. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, this study explored how expert teachers engaged their students in smallgroup active learning sessions. Our constructed theory described student engagement as an integrated process consisting of three components, which demanded extensive competencies from teachers in each component: 1) aiming for a supportive learning environment; 2) employing a personal educational approach; and 3) facilitating the active learning process. Although there was consensus about the required competencies, participants recognized the contextualized nature of student engagement. These findings highlight the need for faculty development initiatives, which aim to prepare medical teachers to teach in small-group active learning settings, to adopt a more encompassing, context-sensitive approach that considers the complexity of student engagement. Furthermore, the findings could encourage teachers to adopt a reflective mindset that enables them to adapt general strategies to strategies tailored to them in their context. Acknowledgments We thank Matthijs Steeneveld for his advice on appreciative inquiry, which significantly enriched the data we collected. 5
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