Informed by the biographical research tradition, this thesis presents a qualitative inquiry into young people’s perceptions of their educational experiences in relation to two schools in Norway – Hyssingen production school (Hyssingen) and UWC Red Cross Nordic (RCN) – that are grounded in alternative visions of education; in different ways, both schools conceive education as a process encompassing much more than the transmission of knowledge. At the centre of this inquiry stands an in-depth presentation of the stories of three young people from each of the two schools. Appealing to the narrative imagination, these stories are displayed in an interpretative format that draws from poetic composition in an attempt to present richly tapestried, biographically contextualized accounts of young people's educational experiences. Mobilizing the notion of the sociological imagination, the stories are then located within broader investigations of young people's educational lives at Hyssingen and RCN. In each of the two settings, the investigations draw upon observations and interviews involving a further 30 research participants comprising youth, alumni and staff, as well as upon school materials and a range of interdisciplinary literatures.

The research findings suggest that young people highly value their respective educational experiences at Hyssingen and RCN. Within inclusive school environments that are understood as simultaneously inward-looking (functioning as supportive, family-style communities) and outward-looking (encouraging social awareness and engagement), young people experience an enriching education that enables them to explore their abilities, unearth hidden potentials and expand their social horizons. In this way, the schools open up new ways of seeing, being and acting in the world and allow young people to practise active citizenship.

The research highlights the importance of attending to young people’s stories about their educational experiences and further suggests that alternative educational settings such as Hyssingen and RCN are socially relevant because they can enrich the educational imagination, stimulate reflection and contribute to democratic life, at the same time as their practices offer lessons that are relevant for consideration by conventional schools. This inquiry makes an original contribution to scholarship by presenting new insights into young people’s perceptions of alternative education within a national context where research on educational alternatives is limited, and by foregrounding models of alternative education that are less known in the international literature.