October 2026

Building Communities of Practice: Creating Authentic Participation and Belonging for Learners

Thursday 1st October (1-2pm)

Thank you to everyone who attended our online GP Tutor: Lunch and Learn session today. We discussed Communities of Practice and how we can help students feel that they belong and become active participants in the practice.

Presentation slides: Lunch and Learn CoP 2026 slides Oct.pdf [PDF 619KB]

Take Home Points

• Belonging supports participation and learning: Students who feel part of the clinical community are better positioned to access learning opportunities and participate in practice.
• Participation is more than observation: Students need opportunities to participate, assist and lead at an appropriate level of competence. GP placements offer particular opportunities for authentic participation because of the smaller teams, repeated contact and close supervision.
• Belonging isn't automatic: Think about how we explicitly welcome students, introduce them to the whole team and help them understand how the practice works, including its routines, language and “unwritten rules”.
• Give students legitimate opportunities to participate: This might include their own clinic list or room, following patients longitudinally, presenting at clinical meetings/MDTs, completing referrals, drafting prescriptions or arranging follow-up, with responsibility increased progressively as their competence develops.
• Think about the learning environment, not just the student: If a student appears passive or reluctant to participate; consider their wellbeing, whether they know when and how they are expected to get involved, and whether we have created a safe and explicit pathway from observation towards participation.