An Explanation of Children's Literature in the Educational Realm: From Actual Challenges to the Ahead Horizons

Children's literature has consistently been one of the best means for child education. However, despite its effectiveness, this means has always confronted conceptual challenges regarding its nature; challenges that undermine it compared to other educational means. This article intended to look at "children's literature" from an educational perspective and while formulating present conceptual challenges, prepares some solutions for them in order to maintain children’s literature as an educational means. Applying the conceptualization method, we formulated these conceptual challenges and then, based on the Islamic action approach and applying implicit deductive method, we proposed some solutions for them. The main conceptual challenges formulated in terms of dualism concerning instructional-literary, global-local, expression of reality-censorship, and fantasy-reality. At the second step, we identified our position about these challenges: literary structure-educational content, and literary creation-educational reading as the solutions of the first challenge; recognition of a multi-layered human identity, and intellectual dynamics of identity-layers as the solution of the second challenge; gradual encountering with reality as the solution of the third challenge; and a bound between fantasy and reality as the solution of the fourth challenge. These solutions can redefine the position of children's literature in the field of education and open new horizons in front of educators.