Collaborative practice is seen as a core aspect of professional practice and, therefore, a focus of professional education. Current interprofessional and quality assurance literature provides enumeration and discussion of a range of competencies required for effective collaborative practice. Case studies of education and training related to collaborative competences rarely discuss the nature of influences on development, delivery and learning. Barriers to development and delivery have been identified for interprofessional education, but we want to move beyond the mental picture of climbing over or moving around fixed hurdles. Learning opportunities are complex dynamic systems, seeking equilibrium. The creative tension of influences provides opportunities for insightful management. This paper uses the systems-form 3P (presage-process-product) model of learning and teaching (Biggs, 1993) to help examine the nature of educational opportunities designed to promote collaborative working. Presage, process and product factors are identified and discussed. We argue that untangling (or at least seeing) the web of influences on learning to work together promotes critical awareness and encourages more informed and timely decisions.