Playing the role of constructive critic of articles in this special issue, I adopt the term self-reliance to refer to work habits, work styles, volition, and self-regulated learning. Starting with the belief that developing self-reliance is an important goal of education, I examine key issues that influence the likelihood of reaching this goal. I assume first that learners are agents. This human quality ubiquitously affects theorizing, researching, and teaching. I examine the nature of this influence in relation to three issues: How learners experiment to develop self-reliance, conditions that influence how learners express and extend self-reliance, and considerations about how to advance theory and practice in the service of enhancing self-reliance.