ABSTRACT
In the 1960s, social disadvantage due to social class and compounded by ethnicity, which brought with it a history of assimilation and cultural legitimization issues, found native/indigenous people of North America in a position where they had little capacity to take advantage of the fruits of equity or choice. One might argue that the market-liberal utilitarian procedural policies of the times, which sought to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number, defined education as a commodity delivered through a uniform pedagogy. The social outcome, therefore, was that those who had the advantage (class, race/ethnicity, gender, and language) acquired the benefits and the choice, and those who had less social capital did not. In the end, disproportionate acquisition of resources brought about by educational polices grounded in choice and efficiency dismissed the principles of social justice and equity (for more on this topic, see Benham & Heck, 1998).
