This paper analyzes the importance and role of the reciprocity relationship in education. It presents a review on the mobilization of the principle of reciprocity--in the anthropological but also sociological and economic senses--in educational processes, especially in adult education. The study is divided into three parts. The first part analyzes the importance of reciprocity in education according to Mauss and to the theory of reciprocity. The second part discusses recent contributions on the role of reciprocity relationships in adult education, expanding Piaget's perspective on the relation between autonomy and cooperation in education and learning. The third part illustrates this approach with three case studies in Brazil. (Contains 2 notes.)