The aim of this paper is to examine which different kinds of classroom order there can be found in different countries. 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 or if they are similar.
The concept of disciplinary order 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 describing different types of classroom order.
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.
In the German examples, the classroom is the centre for teaching and learning activities at school; teachers and pupils are exclusively inside the classroom where the activities take place. The German classrooms are quite closed and the pupils are mainly static on their places whereas there is much movement in and out of the classroom as well as inside the classroom in the Swedish examples. This means that there are at least two different types of disciplinary classroom order to be found in the Swedish examples whereas only one in the German.