Our Gemara on Amud Aleph offers ancient wisdom and ideas regarding pedagogy of young school children:

אמר ליה רב לרב שמואל בר שילת: עד שית לא תקביל, מכאן ואילך – קביל, ואספי ליה כתורא. ואמר ליה רב לרב שמואל בר שילת: כי מחית לינוקא, לא תימחי אלא בערקתא דמסנא. דקארי – קארי, דלא קארי – ליהוי צוותא לחבריה.

Concerning that same issue, Rav said to Rav Shmuel bar Sheilat, a teacher of children: Do not accept a student before the age of six, as he is too young, and it is difficult for him to learn in a steady manner. From this point forward, accept him and stuff him with Torah like an ox. And Rav further said to Rav Shmuel bar Sheilat: When you strike a child for educational purposes, hit him only with the strap of a sandal, which is small and does not cause pain. Rav further advised him: He who reads, let him read on his own; whoever does not read, let him be a companion to his friends, which will encourage him to learn to read.

Many aspects of human nature have changed, and one cannot take pedagogical advice from the Gemara alone, any more than one can rule Halacha from the Gemara alone. Yet, important concepts can be derived from this teaching, even if we might apply them differently in the 21st Century. Not coincidentally, the subject matter of this passage refers to both the gifted student and the more challenged student simultaneously. The first part of the passage functions as a warning to parents and educators that even a precocious youngster should not be made to learn before he is emotionally capable of sustaining the effort and concentration necessary. Don’t burn him out, despite his intellectual ability. The second part of the passage is intriguing and somewhat ambiguous. It suggests that if a child is unable to grasp the material, do not come down hard on him, but do not dismiss him either. Instead let him stay so that he “be a companion to his friends.” 

There are various interpretations to this idea. Rashi understands this to mean that even if he does not fully understand the material, over time, and by osmosis, he will absorb much of what he can. Maharsha interprets this differently. He says the point of being a companion to his friends is so they won’t feel bad being left out of the fun. That is, if the weaker student gets to “hang out in the gym”, it makes it harder for the stronger students to stay focused, given their relative immaturity. 

Sod Yesharim (Seventh Night of Pesach 15:1) says by far the most provocative explanation. He says the contrast is necessary in order to bring out the best in the students. He explains that in the spiritual nature of the world there is always the presence of a countervailing force. This is an important truism. A world full of light might as well be completely dark, as our vision is only enabled via the contrast. So too, in matters of spirituality. I believe it is for this reason that the blessings of Kriyas Shema, which are a precursor to Torah, begin with praising God for “forming light and creating darkness”. Sod Yesharim even suggests that Sodom was the “Anti-Avraham”; he stood for love, humility and kindness and they stood for greed and cruelty. It is not a coincidence that Sodom was destroyed subsequent to Avraham fulfilling the covenant and Bris Milah. Once Avraham achieved completion in this aspect of his development Sodom was no longer needed. My father-in-law, Rav Michoel Miller Z”L used to say that Dasan and Aviram get to survive after so many of their misdeeds - they snitch on Moshe, and they mock him and are insubordinate by trying to show the Manna can be collected on Shabbos. Yet, they come through unscathed. In the various stories of the wilderness every misdeed by every other character seems to meet with swift punishment and decimation. How come these guys escaped, at least until the Korach rebellion? Rav Miller surmised that Dasan and Aviram were there to counterbalance Moshe’s leadership, a check and balance. (Perhaps their intentions were at least partially good.) 

Here too, the young school children need to contrast their abilities to see and appreciate their own abilities. Sod Yesharim does not say this, but I will add that this contrast may also help the weaker students as well, by prodding them to try harder to fulfill their potential. As we shall discuss in greater depth in the next Psychology of the Daf blogpost for Bava Basra 22: “The jealousy of scholars promotes wisdom.”