Creativity is very much in the forefront of current international economic news. As developing countries successfully vie with established economies for manufacturing and less‐skilled jobs, the pressure is on the developed world to move on to the next economic break‐through. Innovation and the creativity that drive it are seen as crucial to this process. Ultimately, education is viewed as the place to inculcate creativity in upcoming generations, to prepare them for the challenges (economic and otherwise) nations will face in coming years. The current global interest in the development of creative thinking for all areas of education requires teachers at all levels to construct learning experiences that generate not only creative products but also creative processes. These processes could ideally be applied across various disciplines requiring complex problem solving, engendering creative outcomes in multiple domains. While the authors assumed that teachers in the creative disciplines of art and design should take a leading role in this development of creative processes, it is not clear that this is happening. This article examines the background of the current calls for creativity, and reviews challenges to the leadership of creative teachers in teaching in non‐creative disciplines.