What is the central conflict of The Lesson? How is it resolved?

The main conflict in “The Lesson” can be analyzed as one of two types: human versus themself or human versus society. The central character, Sylvie, is a pre-adolescent African American girl whose awareness of inequality and discrimination grows in the course of the story. She experiences internal struggles to process the information with which she is confronted on the field trip, as it is too much to absorb all at once. Miss Moore has stimulated this reflection but she has not offered any concrete steps to change the situation or to help the children cope emotionally. As one individual child, Sylvie can think ahead to the ways she wants to take charge of her life. Neither her personal conflict nor the large social conflict are resolved—and cannot be resolved—within the length of the story.

"The Lesson," a short story written by Toni Cade Bambara, is narrated by Sylvia, a young black girl growing up in a poor area in 1970s Harlem, New York City. In order to teach them a "lesson" about how unfair the world is in terms of economic inequality, Miss Moore gathers a group of children from the neighborhood, including Sylvia, and takes them to FAO Schwarz, an expensive, upscale toy store in Manhattan.
Just looking at the window displays, Sylvia and the other children learn that there are people out there who can spend thousands of dollars on toys and trinkets, while the families of some of these children probably struggle to pay their bills. Before entering the store, Sylvia begins to feel a sense of shame, even though she knows she's "Got as much right to go in as anybody." Sylvia grows angry with Miss Moore for making her feel this way and then with her friend Sugar, who gives Miss Moore the satisfaction of knowing that they've all been taught a lesson.
The central conflict of the story stems from the fact that there are huge economic disparities between different groups living in the US and not everyone has access to the same resources. Through this day trip, Sylvia starts to become aware of the full weight of what this means for people like her and her friends: black children growing up in a poor neighborhood. This conflict isn't exactly resolved, but Sylvia's last line, "But ain’t nobody gonna beat me at nuthin," implies that she is not going to let the unfairness of the world stop her from doing anything she wants to do.