Since WWII, Sweden has had an international reputation for being modernand progressive, with schooling that provides equal opportunities for allchildren. Analysing local enactment of the national pursuit ofmodernisation in two contrasting municipalities, this paper offers newperspectives on Swedish education history beyond the image ofschooling as a uniform national project. The concepts of technologicaldevelopment and internationalisation are applied to capture the ideasand visions inherent in this modernisation. The study demonstrates,through the example of the rural municipality of Tierp and themunicipality of Stockholm, the complexity of the modernisation processand the interplay between divergent interpretations of national reformsand local enactment of modernisation.