They are reinforcing stereotypes that boys are ‘silly’ in class, refuse to ‘sit nicely like the girls’ and are more likely to indulge in ‘schoolboy pranks’.

Women teachers may also unwittingly perpetuate low expectations of boys’ academic achievement and encourage girls to work harder by letting them think they are cleverer.

Schools should avoid dividing pupils into ability groups because the practice often results in girls dominating the higher-achieving tables, concluded the Kent University research.

The study of primary schools in the county suggests that under-performance among boys in most national exams could be linked to lower expectations.

The research mainly implicates women teachers, since nearly 90 per cent of primary school teachers are female. It warned that school staff find boys’ play, such as wielding toy guns, ‘particularly challenging and difficult’.

Boys are punished and urged to conform to a more feminine style of play instead of being taught how to play responsibly with their preferred toys.

Bonny Hartley, the study’s lead author, said: ‘By seven or eight years old, children of both genders believe that boys are less focused, able, and successful than girls – and think that adults endorse this stereotype. There are signs that these expectations have the potential to become self-fulfilling in influencing children’s actual conduct and achievement.’

根据今日发布的一项研究，女教师责备男孩的男性典型行为，从而阻碍了男孩的成长。

她们强化一些模式化观念，责备男孩在课堂上表现“愚蠢”，拒绝“像女孩一样乖乖坐着”，以及更喜欢搞“小学生恶作剧”。

女教师还可能在长时间内无意中对男孩的学业成绩期望值较低，让女孩认为自己更聪明，从而鼓励女孩更用功学习。

肯特大学的这一研究得出结论说，学校应该避免把学生按能力进行分组，因为这一行为经常导致女孩在成绩上以绝对优势居于前列。

对郡内小学的研究显示在大多数国考中男孩表现不佳可能和低期望值有关。

这一研究主要涉及女教师，因为近90%的小学教师是女性。研究警告说，教职人员认为像玩玩具枪这种男孩游戏“特别具有挑战性和难度”。

教师们惩罚男孩，驱使男孩进行一些更女性化的游戏，而不是教他们如何有责任感地玩他们喜欢的玩具。

该研究的主要作者伯尼?哈特利说：“到七八岁的时候，男孩和女孩都认为男孩不如女孩能集中注意力、能干以及成功，并认为成年人也认可这一模式。有迹象表明这些期望有可能内化并影响孩子的实际行为和成就。