Ann Low-Beer (née Smith) died suddenly in Leamington Spa on 12 October 2010.  Her commitment, integrity and clarity enabled her to make a significant contribution to history teaching both in England and in continental Europe.  Born in Hull, she gained a First Class degree in history from Hull University and a PGCE from the Institute of Education in London. After teaching at Mayfield Comprehensive School in Putney, she completed a BLitt at St Hugh's College, Oxford. Her thesis, ‘Some Problems in the Theory and Practice of History Teaching in English Secondary Schools', laid foundations for much of her subsequent published work. Ann's interest in the pedagogy of history teaching led her to become a lecturer in education, first at the Institute of Education in London and then at Bristol University.

In 1965 Ann married Tom Low-Beer, a medical consultant born in Brno, Czechoslovakia.  Tom had arrived in Britain in 1940 as an eight-year old illegal immigrant fleeing the Nazis. Tom's background was one of the reasons for Ann's continuing interest in Jewish as well as Central and Eastern European history. In 19687/8 when her husband accepted a job in the USA, Ann went with him and taught a history course entitled ‘from Plato to NATO' in multi-racial schools.  Back in England, her husband moved to a post in Birmingham so Ann commuted from Birmingham to Bristol combining a lively professional and family life. Then in the years before her retirement, she became a lecturer first at Westminster College, Oxford; and then head of department at Westhill College in Birmingham.

As a teacher, history teacher educator and writer, Ann was committed to history both as a body of knowledge and an intellectual discipline. Pupils, she believed, were entitled to gain a broad, balanced knowledge of history designed to help them understand the past and how it has shaped the present.  But Ann also considered that history was valuable in its own right and that history teaching should be fun.  Pupils should be encouraged to read widely, including novels and biographies. She wrote, ‘history is always learnt from a variety of sources. To impart an understanding of what history is about, it is important, at the beginning, to teach the student not to rely on any one book, and it is almost always better that he should read two.'  Ann's insightfulness and creative intelligence aided her in charting her own unique course through the different history teaching ideologies of the time. She was able to analyse underlying assumptions and identify sloppy thinking. This enabled her to challenge existing orthodoxies. In 1967 she published an article 'Moral Judgements in History and History Teaching'. In her introduction she states,

'The purpose of this article is to discuss the view that moral judgements should not enter into historical narrative or study; to suggest ways in which moral judgements do appear in history; and finally to suggest that there are strong reasons for supposing that these are likely to be more important and frequent in school history'... .[i]

One of the great debates of the 1980s was whether pupils should be assessed on their ability to empathise with people in the past. Ann's article ‘Empathy and History', identified some of the fallacies in this approach. A beautifully written piece in which the arguments are clearly articulated, it still merits study.[ii]   

Ann was particularly interested in history teaching in primary schools. In 1983 she and Joan Blyth published an HA pamphlet on the issue.[iii] She introduced a pioneering history curriculum for primary students at Grove Lane School in Handsworth.  Its quality was noticed by the secretary of state and Parliament discussed why the "Low-Beer" curriculum was not taught nationally.  Grove Lane School has kept to her curriculum for twenty years.

Her interest in primary history was one reason Ann was asked to serve on the Government's History Working Group set up to devise a National Curriculum for history.  Many history teachers feared that the Group would produce a curriculum which would force them to teach a simplistic account of English history. Instead, the Group created a balanced schema for history that included British, European and world history and encompassed both knowledge and skills.  Tim Lomas, a member of the Group, commented that Ann,

‘... was always committed to safeguarding history as a pleasurable and valuable part of the curriculum.  She felt equally passionately whether talking about history at primary, secondary or higher education levels.   She always stood out for balanced and worthwhile content across the years of compulsory education.   ... she was extremely kind and concerned, often noticing if another member of History Working Group was concerned or upset and showing a deep care for our well-being.'

Ann's interest in political influences on history and its role in national identity brought her to the attention of the Council of Europe at a time when writing curricula and textbooks for societies in transition was an important issue. After the fall of the Wall many Central and East European states were trying to rewrite curricula and textbooks. Ann was asked to give presentations at meetings held in different parts of Eastern Europe. She was particularly interested in South East Europe and contributed to meetings set up under the Stability Pact to help with the reform of textbooks after the breakup of Yugoslavia.  Her tact made her a good diplomat in tricky situations and she was always a delightful travelling companion in taxing circumstances.  The Council also valued her for her beautifully written, vivid yet concise reports of the meetings.  Her literary talent led her to become editor of the Bulletin for EUROCLIO - the Association of European History Teachers.

In retirement, Ann remained interested in history education as well as in the history of her husband's family.  She was also an active Friend of the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, in Birmingham and involved in music societies in Leamington Spa. After her husband's sudden death in a car crash in South Africa in 2001, Ann established the Low-Beer Trust to support the concerts and careers of young Czech musicians.

Many of the debates in which Ann participated are still current. The Coalition Government is planning to set up another working party into the history curriculum. It is to be hoped that members will bring to the current debate the same commitment, integrity and clarity that Ann did during her distinguished career.

Sue Bennett  

References

[i] Low-Beer, A. (1967) ‘Moral judgements in history and history teaching', in W.H. Burston & D. Thompson (eds) Studies in the Nature and Teaching of History, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul

[ii] Low-Beer, A. (1989)  ‘Empathy and History', Teaching History, No.55, April, pp.8-12

[iii] Low-Beer, A. and Blyth, J. (1983) Teaching History to Younger Children, London: The Historical Association