The purpose of this study was to investigate to what extent context and relationships influence preservice teachers' appropriation of coursework during the clinical experience. While there is a dearth of research regarding the clinical experience in teacher preparation programs, there are even fewer studies investigating special education teacher candidates' perspectives of their clinical teaching experiences. Interview and observational data as well as documents were collected following the completion of an eight to sixteen week clinical teaching experience. Results from this qualitative study indicated that the relationship with mentor teachers and the context of the clinical teaching setting influenced the participants' appropriation of coursework, decision-making, and overall development during their final clinical teaching experiences. Implications for future research and practice regarding the clinical practice experience in teacher preparation programs are provided.