A social science perspective is offered on the educational challenge of fostering students' independence while cultivating their abilities to coordinate with others. Rejected are the alternatives of reinforcing the values of American society or permitting free reign to individual development. Educators are reminded that, since their role is to develop as many different human potentials as students manifest, no one dimension of achievement should be canonized. The need for reciprocity in order for individuals to function autonomously is identified as an educational message that must be communicated through teachers' behaviors as well as verbally. The author urges teachers to expose themselves to peer criticism to insure adequate modeling for students. A view of education as an ongoing experiment is advocated to guard against authoritarian rigidity. However, teachers are cautioned to take student evaluations of relevancy primarily as statements of the students' stage of development rather than of the validity of the course content. Achievement of the above goals is seen to require revision of the roles currently adopted in educational institutions. (GW)