This research focused on examining three elementary school grade levels, specifically children in the first, second, and third grades. It sought to examine how university students studying to become elementary school teachers are taught competency formation methods by coming to understand the spatial awareness development tendencies of early elementary school students through the use of introductory-level instruction using maps, which is an area that had not yet been examined. For the first and second graders being investigated, it became clear that a large percentage of the maps that they sketched consisted of a single specific route (route maps). Maps sketched by third graders were a mix of route maps and maps showing a network of multiple roads (survey maps), and as children move up through the middle grades of elementary school, survey maps become more and more common. There were many examples of things included in maps sketched by children that assist in spatial awareness like landform features such as hilly roads, things related to friendship such as parks or houses of friends, things related to consumption such as shops, and things related to traffic/movement such as traffic signals/pedestrian crossings. The next most common things included were related to land use such as temples/shrines and parking lots. From this, we understand that children choose to include in maps aspects related to landform features, friendship, consumption, and movement/traffic. In an examination of university students studying to become teachers, it became clear that they tend to overestimate the ability to draw maps of children in the lower grades, and that university students tend to include things from their own experience when they create large maps to be placed on the floor. It is necessary to coach university students to understand the necessity of field work and trying to understand the actual situation of children since university students tend to rely on their own daily life experiences when creating teaching materials. As part of teacher training, university students should be coached to become competent at ensuring children have a smooth transition from large maps placed on the floor (used in life environmental studies) to actual maps in the third grade and beyond, as well as connecting landscapes and maps by creating maps that include directly-observed features of the local landscape. Based upon these observations, it is effective for the competency formation of university students to participate in guided field work, as well as to understand the actual situation of children from the perspective of children’s spatial awareness and tendencies when creating maps.

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The main purpose of this paper is to introduce the contents of the Charney Manor Primary Geography Conference, which is held in England. The Charney Manor conference was first organized in 1970 by Professor R. Wolford. Since 1995, conferences have been held continuously by Professor S. Catling . The contents of these conferences have focused on teaching and learning in primary geography. The Charney Manor is located in the Vale of White Horse in Oxfordshire, England. The 20th Charney Manor primary geography conference was held at the Charney Manor in the village of Charney Bassett from 24 to 26 February 2017. The title of the conference was Reflecting on Primary Geography. The conference had 45 participants from England, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, and Japan. In addition, it featured 26 presentations on primary geography. The conference influenced primary geography education and contributed toward the sharing of ideas and activities to teach geography to young children. For over twenty years, the Charney Manor Primary Geography Conference has proved to be an important and valuable place to develop ideas and thoughts about the state of primary geography.

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