In this unique attempt to address the dilemma in contemporary education, the noted cognitive scientist weaves the lessons garnered from three vantage points: his own traditional education as an American child, his years of research on creativity at Harvard, and what he saw in modern Chinese classrooms,into a program that draws on the best of both modes, traditional and progressive.

* Prologue: A Long March to Creativity * An American EducationAt Midcentury * Conflicting Messages in the American Atmosphere * Imprinted on Cambridge * Resisting Professionalization * Two Sort of Careers: Project Zero and the VA Hospital * An International and Interdisciplinary Turn * China Experiences * First Visit to China * The First U.S.-China Arts Education Conference * The China Project * Three Educational Experiments, with an Unscheduled Trip to Taiwan * At LastOur Chinese Mission Accomplished * A Gadflys View of Some Chinese Arts Classes * Fitting the Key in the Slot: Five Perspectives on China * Reflections * Reflections in a Professional Key * Reflections in a Personal Key