創意之所以成為目前熱門議題，是因為人們意識到許多問題需要集思廣義才能找到應變之道。此處所需要的創意，與二十世紀藝術教育家，如 ViktorLowenfeld 和 Herbert Read 等人提倡的創意概念並不相同。先前的創意以個人能力為基礎，使用與傳統規則截然不同的創新手法，以達到個人成就為取向，而當代的創意則是集體互動的成果，主動選擇和使用適當的規則，目的是解決普遍性問題。作者同時指出，與其他學校科目相比，藝術教育更易於培養這種彈性使用規則的態度。

Current interest in creativity is motivated by our awareness of the many
problems that we need collectively to address. The kind of creativity called for differs from the kind promoted earlier in the twentieth century by art educators such as Viktor Lowenfeld and Herbert Read. Whereas the early version was conceived as an individual ability oriented to individual self-fulfillment and structured as a rejection of conventional rules, the current one is more a product of group interactions oriented to solving common problems and as an active selecting and using of a set of rules. This is illustrated by reference to some contemporary artists. It is argued that the required attitudes toward rules are more easily fostered in art than in other school subjects.