ABSTRACT
The process that most characterized the mobilization and the development of COPLA can be described as an "empowerment model." COPLA parents built on their strengths—their common history and experience in Mexico and Carpinteria. Awareness, in the context of parent education, refers to the consciousness of the Spanish-speaking parents about their role in the social environment and the conditions under which they could operate most efficiently as fundamental agents for change. The presumption is that parents are generally unaware of certain issues, such as AIDS, immigration rights, grades, or larger, more critical problems at the school. Children were learning more English than the parents could, but parents were dissatisfied with what the children were learning at school. For the most part, however, the environment remains one in which the school is the authority and continues to teach parents about the ideas, activities, and goals the school believes families should know.
