This paper contributes to the research field of classroom research by offering an empirical analysis of classroom instruction on the level of lesson structure. The research questions are: What are the typical combinations of instructional activities in the lessons of eight teachers in four Norwegian Secondary schools? And how can the content-treatment of these structures be explained considering relevant pedagogical traditions? The method of the study is qualitative non-participatory observation in four Norwegian Secondary schools, with a total dataset of 79 lessons. We found that the most typical combination of instructional activities in the data was the plenary conversation-seatwork-structure. When the content-treatment was analyzed, an 'expository-practice'-structure was revealed. This lesson structure is explained by the influence of progressive-constructivist pedagogical theories in Scandinavia, foremost Bildung-centred general didactics and Vygotsky-inspired socio-cultural theory. From the perspective of the hidden curriculum, we call this discourse 'sociability before individuality'.