“In the next break we fight”: social interaction and dispute among girls

ABSTRACT

The article explores children’s interactions during a game of checkers in the school break. Through prolonged and regular observation and audio/video recordings, it was possible to describe practices and rules of the game and interpret their cultural meaning for children. Also, it is analyzed aspects of language socialization based on Ethnomethodological Conversation Analysis and interpreted the interactions of children according to Erving Goffman’s theory. The results demonstrate that gender issues emerged in the dispute and contradicted arguments from the field of psychology linked to the lack of complexity in girls’ games (PIAGET, 1994). The focus of the interactions was not on the rules of the game itself, but on how they were kept, transgressand/or reinterpreted by the players during the match.

Keywords:
Anthropology of Education; Dispute; Social interaction; Checkers; School break