Enhancing Creative Arts Education in Rural South Africa through a University-Led WhatsApp CPD Intervention

Creative Arts education is vital for developing learners’ creativity and problem- solving skills. However, many primary school Creative Arts teachers in South Africa lack the necessary training and confidence, which results in poor instructional quality. This study, conducted by a distance university in South Africa from 2022 to 2025, employed an action research methodology to provide support to Creative Art teachers at a rural primary school in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The primary aim of the study was to examine the university’s intervention in supporting Creative Arts teachers’ continuous professional development within geographically remote contexts where access to formal training opportunities is limited. The significance of this action research lies in demonstrating that WhatsApp can be an effective, low-cost platform for continuing professional development in distance education, and even for a subject that involves significant physical learning. WhatsApp enabled collaboration, sharing of teaching strategies and skill enhancement among primary school Creative Arts teachers. The findings suggest that WhatsApp and similar platforms can be used to scale open-distance e-learning models, supporting teacher development in underserved regions and, ultimately, improving education quality in rural southern Africa.