An ongoing problem for teacher education institutions is bridging the gap between theory and practice and offering authentic experiences to challenge preservice teachers' pedagogical decision-making. Preservice practicums simulate teaching and can, at best, offer controlled experiences in familiar settings. This restricts the opportunities for preservice teachers to develop confidence in their own pedagogical decision-making and to adapt curriculum to meet unknown or unforeseen conditions. This paper describes, through a small-scale qualitative case study, a teaching experience in an unfamiliar setting, the persistent actions taken to respond to a specific context and the impact this had on preservice teacher knowledge and self-efficacy. The study found that preservice teacher self-efficacy can be scaffolded in real-world contexts provided sufficient planning, peer support and mentoring is available.