The aim of this paper is to describe which types of order can be found in observations in Swedish and German classrooms and to discuss what effects these implicate for the work of teachers. Schooling on the one hand is a global phenomenon and the classroom is usually seen as an integrated part of it. School systems on the other hand are nationally different. Therefore it is interesting to investigate whether, and to what extent, differences can be found in the classroom orders in different countries.

The concept of disciplinary order as formulated in Michel Foucault's book "Discipline and Punish" is the main theoretical framework of this study. Based on this concept an ideal type of "disciplinary classroom order" is formulated. This ideal type is the analytical starting point for constructing and describing different types of classroom order based on classroom observations. The study is based on participant classroom observations, following German upper secondary school teachers and Swedish compulsory school teachers during their work week and in their classrooms.

The results of these studies show that there can be found two different, and in many ways opposing, types of classroom order in the Swedish examples, whereas only one in the German.

In the German examples, the classroom is the unquestioned centre for teaching and learning activities at school; teachers and pupils are exclusively inside the classroom where teacher centred whole-class lessons are carried out. During the lessons the German classrooms are quite closed and the pupils are static on their places. In the Swedish classroom observations this type of order can be found as well, but there it alternates with another almost opposite type of order where pupils are studying individually with the teacher as supervisor or mentor. The classroom is one of many places for these activities and is therefore much more open for teachers and pupils during the lessons.

It will be discussed what possibilities and risks are carried along by either focusing on one type or shifting between different types of classroom order and what demands are put on the teacher in those different environments.