Gender difference towards conflicting views in children's group-talk

Conflicting views in children’s small group discussion are regarded by cognitive psychologists as helpful in children’s cognitive development. In schools, conflict of ideas is rhetorically valued as offering an opportunity to learn. Light and Littleton (1994) explain that Piaget (1962) has sketched the significance of verbal interaction between peers. It helps children to ‘decentre’ and become sensitive to others’ perspectives. Neo-Piagetians believe that through conflicting ideas, a child’s understanding may be shifted by talking to another child with different perspectives (Bell et al. 1985). Though scholars may think positively about conflicting views in group-talk, children themselves may think differently. The purpose of the current study is to examine how children in Hong Kong perceive conflicting views. Specifically, it is to investigate whether there is any gender difference in children’s perception of conflicting views in their small group discussion. Data was collected through interviewing eleven-year-old primary five children from eight primary schools in Hong Kong. The children were selected randomly. The interviews were focused on enquiring how each perceive conflicting views during their small group discussion in social studies lessons and why each has the perception. Discussion will be on the gender difference in the perception, and implications will be drawn.