In this full-length interview, sociologist David Sikkink discusses six unconventional high schools: a Friends school, a Montessori school, a Waldorf school, an IB school, a New Tech school, and a Democratic school. We talk about: • The surprising amount of autonomy—and even authority—given to students in these settings • How students in alternative-pedagogy schools engage with their communities • Why many of these schools are strongly critical of popular culture