Education is value-laden, as the society determines what will or will not be modeled. In character education, the school community identifies the core values of the school and works to teach and reinforce those shared values within the students' lives. Those character traits should permeate the child's learning environment, whether in the classroom, hallway, gymnasium, cafeteria, sports arena, or local restaurant. The character traits are part of the fabric of the whole community, and all stakeholders model the desired behaviors. Character education is often introduced into the classroom through the study of heroes and heroines.
Students examine the character traits personified in the heroes and heroines.
Yet such study is only one part of the whole of character education when it is infused into the school community's ethos. The inclusion of character education is often a thorny issue for schools. Some critics consider character education to be indoctrination in values contrary to those taught at home. If the selected values, however, are outcomes of decisions involving all stakeholders in the school community, then they should not conflict with those taught at home. If schools become welcoming, supportive places for students, students are more likely to attend and stay on task.