“You could see it on their faces…?”: The importance of provoking smiles in schools

This single-authored article addresses some pedagogical and curriculum issues in pedagogy considered missing in Initial Teacher Education. It is aimed at those involved in Health Education, headteachers, education decision-makers and teachers in training. It is cited in two recent journal articles and was peer reviewed before being accepted in this international journal. The author argues that in the light of the World Health Organisation report that English children are amongst the most untrusting, stressed and unhappy in the developed world, the curriculum needs to be reassessed. It consists of focussed reviews of current literature on the links between physical and emotional well-being, the expression those states on the faces and body language of children and their combined impact on children’s learning. It draws out a series of common features in the research literature of psychologists, neuro-scientists and physiologists and attempts to apply them practically to decision-making concerning pedagogy and curriculum.