This paper reports on a research and development project based upon problemsin upper secondary school, namely students’lack of engagement, passive learning and students’ absence from school. Looking to solve this problem, a group of uppersecondary school teachers came across and saw potential in the concept, physical space and method of the “Active LearningClassroom (ALC)”, a concept from higher education. The aim of this particular study was to explore teaching in the ALCfrom the perspective of power and control. The research questions embrace issues on both the physical learningenvironment of the ALC, teacher practices in the ALC and what kind of teacher practices enhance active learning. Thetheoretical framework was based on Bernstein’s concepts of power and control. The study applied methods of videorecorded classroom observations and field notes. The findings indicate a designed physical learning environment wherepower was conferred to the students. That placed demands on the teachers with regard to how they handled control inpractice. Findings further indicate that when teachers had more active control over pace and sequencing, this increasedproductivity and more active learning among the students.