Interview with Ann Low-Beer, 12 August 2009

Ann Low-Beer was a former teacher trainer. She worked and published in particular on the teaching of primary school history with Joan Blythe. She discusses her early career teaching in London and Oxford and the emergence of her research interest in the impact of political motives on the teaching of history in schools. She moved into teacher training in Bristol and even had experience of teaching in an Americal college as a visting academic. Her work was influenced by child-centred psychology and she supported the use of imagination in teaching history. However, she was critical of the inclusion of 'empathy' in GCSE history exams. She discusses her role as a member of the History Working Group which devised the first History National Curriculum in 1990 and the impact that has had on the teaching of history. Interviewed by Dr Jenny Keating.