The purpose of this study was to explore a 'taken-for-granted' and often over-looked element of the clinical preparation of teacher candidates--classroom observation. Practice-based pedagogies of teacher education with roots in the philosophy of John Dewey served as a conceptual frame for interviews with teacher educators in the United States and in Scotland. The results of the qualitative analysis showed that teacher educators structure observational assignments in a variety of ways to correspond to targeted learning goals for their teacher candidates (TCs). In addition, teacher educators reported that well-designed observational experiences have the potential to help TCs recognize the complexity of teaching, disrupt the 'apprenticeship of observation' and help TCs move away from previously held assumptions and biases.