The major social and political upheavals of 1798 and 1831 fueled ambitions for radical reformulations of educational programs. However, there were discrepancies between these claims, which were established as new norms, and local practices. Authoritative or expert-driven norm-setting encountered local and regional needs and ideas about schooling. In the circulating appropriations, traditional and received knowledge blended on-site, leading to unique manifestations of educational practices.

Using a rich corpus of sources primarily consisting of responses to school surveys from 1771 and 1799, as well as reports from school authorities for the year 1834, several hundred Zurich schools are examined comparatively. The author presents a nuanced picture of educational practices at the transition from the 18th to the 19th century.

As a result, the study demonstrates regionally similar teaching practices beyond the local context and reveals the underlying societal orders of knowledge. Therefore, examining schools also means examining society.