As the anniversary approaches of the terrorist attacks on the United States, teachers are being given advice on how they might address the topic in the classroom.

With many text books published long before the events of 11 September, teachers in the United States will be looking for ways to present the subject.

A citizenship education organisation, the Freedoms Foundation, is providing a week-long teacher training course showing how the terrorist attacks can be taught within the curriculum.

"Terrorism: Challenges and Threats to the American Way of Life" is providing information about the roots of terrorism and how to respond to emergencies.

"These are things we didn't know before. The questions my students had immediately after 11 September, I had no answers for,'' said Nancy McCoy, a high school history teacher from West Virginia.

History lessons

In the United Kingdom, the attacks last autumn also sparked a debate about how current and recent events could be presented more effectively in history or other parts of the curriculum.

It was claimed that events after the World War II were "under-taught" in UK secondary schools, making it difficult for pupils to understand the origins of modern conflicts.

The course being offered to US teachers this week by the Freedoms Foundation in Pennsylvania is giving teachers seminars in contemporary terrorism.

This will look at religious, political and ideological forms of terrorism in the United States and elsewhere

It will explore the impact of terrorist acts and how they are covered by the media.