The Challenges of the VUCA World and the Education System: The Need for Change to Ensure Sustainable Learning Process

Abstract

The accelerated transformations in the education system marked by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) require a rethinking of pedagogical approaches. The VUCA environment requires a new educational management system in line with new technological trends in order to respond effectively to all the internal and external factors that may affect the quality of teaching. A particularly important course of action is updating teaching methods by combining traditional teaching methods with new interactive methods that promote the introduction of certain digital applications during the teaching of new topics. In this sense, the quantitative research carried out in the present study among second-year students from the psycho-pedagogical program organized by the Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania, has highlighted the fact that innovative teaching methods are more effective, contributing to the development of personality and communication skills among pupils and students. Also, the results obtained after applying the Mann–Whitney test showed that there is a significant difference between students involved in different educational activities and those who do not have contact with the educational environment in terms of perceiving the volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity of the educational environment. At the same time, in the context of the VUCA world, in order to ensure the effectiveness of the teaching–learning process, teachers need to develop new skills such as stress management, adaptability, creativity, technological skills, and time management. Addressing the specific competencies that teachers need to acquire in order to improve their teaching and to respond effectively to the volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity in education, this study contributes to the creation of a sustainable education system, which is able to cope with all transformations (technological, legislative, socio-economic, etc.). The article is based on the results obtained in the postdoctoral research conducted at the end of 2024.

1. Introduction

In a world characterized by continuous change and volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA), the education system needs to align itself with other domains and show adaptability and flexibility in order to effectively manage all the challenges received from the internal and external environment. Considering that the VUCA world combines four distinct types of challenges, this makes it difficult to approach a challenging situation, since understanding a situation involves generating hypotheses and then testing them [1]. The VUCA world phenomenon has gained recent recognition in the academic world, as well as in organizations and business environments [2]. The VUCA world has become today’s reality, which means that higher education needs to adapt accordingly [3,4,5,6]. In this context, preparing students for the VUCA world is not only about transmitting information and knowledge, but also about forming creative and innovative mindsets. The VUCA world has a major influence on the education system, generating important transformations from the way teaching activities are organized to the teaching methods used during lessons. Through the discovery of successful practices, teachers can obtain valuable guidance which will help them to create relevant and engaging learning experiences, with the aim of providing learners with the skills necessary to adapt and successfully address the complexity of the contemporary world [7,8]. The VUCA environment is also characterized by radical changes that are occurring on a large scale and are a driving force for technological modernization and innovation [9]. Students have to accumulate new amounts of information every day, so it is the role of educational institutions to promote active learning among children. Thus, one of the biggest challenges for teachers in the education system to overcome with agility is to lead learning activities in turbulent times [10,11,12]. Considering the fact that society is evolving more and more rapidly in terms of community members’ needs and desires, education, and culture [13], the educational process has to fulfill the criteria of an unpredictable world (VUCA world). However, in the VUCA environment, the decision-making process is becoming increasingly complex, as the context is highly uncertain, insecure and full of ambiguity [14].

At the organizational level, the VUCA world creates the conditions for change, with the main steps being anticipating issues that influence the emergence of new criteria, understanding the effects of issues and actions, assessing the independence of variables, preparing for alternative realities and challenges, and interpreting and addressing relevant opportunities [13]. In education, as in other fields, change is often associated with the renewal of certain concepts or teaching approaches: lesson content, pedagogical ideas, and teaching strategies [15]. In this context, educational management is defined as a complex process where the leading persons (groups of managers at each hierarchical level in the education system) develop and implement an educational strategy which is composed of an educational ideal (goal), specific objectives derived from the educational ideal/scope, specific content leading to the achievement of the objectives, methods/procedures/techniques for the delivery of information, evaluation methods, human resources, material, and financial resources [15]. The VUCA environment is characterized by a high volume of information that changes at high speed, requiring organizational processes to be updated several times over the course of a year in order for a company to remain competitive in the marketplace and successfully accomplish its objectives.

In this context, the article focuses on two main directions: in the first part, we investigated and analyzed the notions and information that existed in the literature regarding the VUCA world and its effects on the educational system, and in the second part we used all these data for the analysis and interpretation of the results obtained from the research conducted among students in their final year of the psycho-pedagogical module, level II, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania. Thus, this research aims to analyze how teachers can improve their ability to respond to the VUCA world by participating in different educational activities and improving their teaching style. The interpretation of the results obtained from distributing a questionnaire to a sample of 71 future teachers allows us to outline relevant future courses of action that can contribute to preparing students for the complexity of today’s world. The article contributes to the development of the field by investigating how the VUCA world affects educational processes, especially on teaching–learning activities.

2. Literature Review

Although the acronym “VUCA world” has been used in the literature since the Cold War, when it was first used by the US military [16,17], it has been adopted by business to describe the corporate landscape [18,19,20], as well as in educational analysis [21]. Many educational visions (such as OECD 2030) require that future pupils and students develop the necessary competencies and skills to enable them to carry out their activities successfully, even in an uncertain and ambiguous environment (VUCA environment) [21,22,23]. Regarding the approach of the four components of the VUCA world (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) in the education system, this should be implemented in schools in order to involve students in addressing real situations [24].

The first component, volatility, refers to the totality of changes in the education system that impact both teachers and students equally, often leaving them with little time to adapt. An example of this is the coronavirus pandemic, which in Romania and throughout the world has seen a sudden transition from face-to-face teaching to online teaching. There are numerous studies which have investigated the negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic on supply chains [25,26,27,28]. Similarly to the business environment, a number of decisions had to be taken in the education system to close, open, or partially open educational organizations in order to provide pupils with a safe and secure environment for learning and development [14]. It is notable that although the education sector has been knocked to its knees by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, it has not been completely “brought to its knees” by the online education revolution and the internet [29].

The second component, uncertainty, is mainly related to the lack of predictability that exists in the education system, because though in the past it was clear that a person who attended a certain school would have a secure future, this is no longer possible because the working environment of organizations demands the adoption of a new workplace culture [13]. In the literature, many researchers classify the new skills and competencies required by the labor market into the following categories [30]: communication skills, goal setting, negotiation skills, teamwork, time management, selling skills, stress management, managing emotions, initiative, enthusiasm, perseverance, reflection, critical thinking, creative thinking, logical thinking, decision-making, strategic thinking, analyzing information, managerial skills, perseverance, monitoring the completion of tasks, etc.

The next component, complexity in the educational environment, refers to the interdependence that exists between its subsystems. Often, a change in one of them can trigger a chain reaction, requiring innovative and flexible solutions. For example, although digitalization has brought about substantial changes in the educational system, a number of challenges still remain to be addressed, such as unequal access to technological resources and the varying levels of digital competence among teachers and students.

The final component, ambiguity, highlights the lack of clarity, with no single answer or solution to the challenges faced by the educational system. Moreover, at the classroom level, teachers need to update their teaching methods, as each child learns differently. Therefore, the curriculum must become sufficiently flexible to equip students with the necessary competencies to either enroll in a new form of education or enter the labor market, as appropriate. At the same time, teachers must strike a balance between traditional teaching methods and interactive or technology-based approaches.

The main drivers of change in the education system are [15] external factors (labor market, new technologies, contemporary world problems (pollution, pandemics, war), facilitating access to information, acquisitions in the field of science that support the transition from the traditional school to the school of the future) and internal factors (the reaction of pupils and students to adapt to the demands coming from the school environment, the creativity of teaching staff represented by the use of innovative elements or digital applications (Kahoot, Mentimeter, Wordwall, etc.) in teaching new content, the strategic management approach of schools by introducing and testing pilot programs). Compared to the last century, the educational paradigm has changed dramatically (

Table 1. Educational paradigms. Source: Adapted from Zadorina et al. [30].

The Educational Paradigm in the 21st Century	The Educational Paradigm in the 20th Century
Non-linear learning	Linear instruction system
The teacher is the mentor, coordinator of activities, and organizer of the learning and information environment	The teacher is a “transmitter” of information
Flexible class composition	Permanent, rigorous class composition
Information sources are unlimited	Limited sources of information
Broad educational and information environment (created by both teacher and pupils)	Educational and information environment prepared exclusively by the teacher
Pupils’ cognitive, autonomous stance	Pupil’s position: receives information prepared by teachers
Educational content transmitted is comprehensive, integrating concepts from several subjects	The educational content transmitted is the same as in textbooks and school curricula, with only insignificant new elements added

).

Given that the roles of the pupil and the teacher have changed significantly in recent years, curricula should be updated in line with current requirements [30], in order to train real professionals capable of entering the labor market. Thus, in the lessons, elements of the VUCA world should be addressed at the level of teaching and learning new concepts so that students work collaboratively with each other to develop higher-order technological skills through the use of technological tools [24,31,32,33]. In the VUCA world, teachers need to promote an interactive learning environment that stimulates students’ curiosity, leading them to find their own solutions to particular case studies or problem situations. Therefore, in the educational environment, which is under the influence of the VUCA world, the teacher has a number of roles in addition to delivering information (

Table 2. The roles of a teacher in the VUCA world. Source: Adapted from Joita [34].

The Roles of Teacher
Intervene frequently at all stages of the lesson in order to maintain an interactive framework;
Structure the content of the lesson in such a way that the activities carried out lead to the achievement of the operational objectives previously set;
Involve pupils in solving tasks and encourage them to work collaboratively with other children to solve certain case studies/team projects;
Use a variety of assessment methods to ensure objectivity, check pupils’ answers and solutions;
Positively influence pupils’ motivation and participation in lessons through teaching strategies and methods;
Demonstrate adaptability and flexibility by using new teaching methods and elements of digital pedagogy;
Be a promoter of lifelong learning, demonstrating that improvement and education never stop.

).

The volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) that characterize today’s world [3] require the educational system to support students in developing an innovative and creative mindset, in order to prepare them for an unpredictable professional environment. Teachers also need to update their teaching strategies and methods in line with current trends in order to make the teaching–learning process more effective. In addition, teachers should use different pedagogical approaches that promote critical thinking, interdisciplinary learning, and problem solving [7]. Developing the necessary competencies of teachers that ensure adaptability, responsiveness, innovation, and creativity leads to the creation of sustainable pedagogical models.

A particularly important role of the teacher in this context is represented by the way in which the educational objectives are communicated to the students, respectively by the didactic means and teaching methods used to achieve them. Thus, for a teacher, the teaching method is a means of leading and organizing the student’s learning activity, as well as a didactic tool to help pupils and students to assimilate new knowledge and behavioral patterns [35]. Although teaching methods are influenced by a number of factors (students’ learning styles, students’ behaviors, etc.), they must accomplish a number of general (formative, cognitive, operational, motivational, normative) and specific functions [36].

Given the influence of the VUCA world on teaching activities, the optimal delivery of lessons requires the exploration and identification of teaching methods that enable students to achieve their best possible outcomes. Furthermore, the ongoing economic, social, and technological transformations emphasize the need for pedagogical approaches that prepare students for the unpredictable and rapid changes that characterize volatile markets [37]. In this regard, a particularly important aspect is the updating of traditional teaching methods (such as conversation, simulation, lecture, debate, didactic exercise, brainstorming, Philips 6/6, the Cube method, the KWL method: Know/Want to know/Learned, discovery/investigation-based learning, role-play, and cooperative learning) through the integration of educational applications (such as Kahoot, Mentimeter, Wordwall, AhaSlides, and Slido). Although digital applications are used as a support element in teaching sequences, in order to achieve the previously set operational objectives, teachers’ performance should evolve in direct relation to technological progress, taking into account the fact that education is constantly adapting to new technologies [38]. While artificial intelligence (AI) mainly refers to various systems that enhance human intelligence, AI-based digital generative applications used in education involve the application of various tools capable of creating new content, such as images, videos, and text [39].

Technology has long been considered a key element for the sustainable existence and longevity of higher education institutions, a view that has been reinforced by the coronavirus pandemic of 2019 and the isolation measures adopted since 2020 [9]. Given the numerous benefits created by AI, many well-known agencies and UNESCO are focusing on developing reports, guidelines, and sets of recommendations for monitoring and validating AI systems in various fields, including education [40,41].

Educational approaches based on artificial intelligence provide pupils and students with a set of innovative tools to accumulate information more efficiently and achieve productive results [42]. Beyond traditional digital tools, emerging technologies based on artificial intelligence (such as ChatGPT, version GPT-4o mini, a chatbot launched by Open AI in 2022) offer unprecedented opportunities to streamline learning activities: providing materials and tools (such as SORA and VEED tools) for developing personalized learning materials, offering instant feedback to students, assisting in efficient homework grading, and giving teachers the chance to improve their teaching strategies through the use of practical and relevant examples [43,44]. In an environment marked by complexity and uncertainty, updating teaching methods through the integration of digital pedagogy applications and artificial intelligence contributes to the development of an efficient educational system, as well as to the achievement of positive long-term indirect effects among students—such as innovation, creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills [7].

3. Materials and Methods

3.1. Method

This article is based on postdoctoral research carried out between 2023 and 2025 entitled "Approaches to educational management in the context of the VUCA world" [45]. In order to investigate how the changes brought about by the VUCA world can influence the educational–instructional process, in the first stage, we analyzed scientific articles from specialized journals that addressed topics related to the VUCA world and the educational system, such as the influence of the VUCA world on the educational system, the link between the components of the VUCA world (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) and student performance, teacher performance in an ambiguous educational environment, digital learning, digital applications, and teaching methods. Based on the theoretical information obtained from the analysis, the next stage consisted of conducting quantitative research. We made a questionnaire composed of 15 closed questions in Google Forms. We distributed it by mail, individually, to the students of the psycho-pedagogical program—level II, year II, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, in the period October–December 2024 (115 students–115 emails). Among the most important aspects analyzed were the volatility of the educational environment, the impact of technological developments on teaching methods, the most effective teaching strategies, and the essential competencies required for teachers to successfully manage the challenges and changes brought about by the VUCA world.

3.2. Participants

Before filling in the questionnaire, the students expressed their consent to participate in the research, thus complying with all ethics and GDPR policies. Also, the questionnaire did not collect personal data from students such as names, surnames or e-mail addresses, as they had the possibility to remain anonymous. Thus, mails were sent to all students enrolled in the second year, registering a total of 71 responses. Regarding the field of activity and specialization, the respondents are enrolled in master’s degree programs at the Bucharest University of Economics Studies, and the percentages of respondents from the various faculties are represented in the table below (

Table 3. Distribution of respondents by educational field.

Faculty	Number of Students	Percentage
The Faculty of Business Administration (in Foreign Languages)	8	11.27%
The Faculty of Administration and Public Management	5	7.04%
The Faculty of Business and Tourism	2	2.82%
The Faculty of Economic Cybernetics, Statistics and Informatics	18	25.35%
The Faculty of Accounting and Management Information Systems	9	12.68%
The Faculty of Agrifood and Environmental Economics	2	2.82%
The Faculty of Theoretical and Applied Economics	4	5.63%
The Faculty of Finance and Banking	5	7.04%
The Faculty of Management	7	9.85%
The Faculty of Marketing	2	2.82%
The Faculty of International Business and Economics	9	12.68%
Total	71	100%

).

Therefore, the fact that the participants in the study are from different study programs is a particularly important advantage, as it provides an interdisciplinary perspective of how the components of the VUCA world influence the educational process, allowing an in-depth analysis of the phenomenon. All the students who participated in our research have previously graduated from the psychological–pedagogical program, level 1, and carried out their internships at different high schools and schools in Bucharest, such as Ion Luca Caragiale National College, A.D. Xenopol Economic College, “Virgil Madgearu” Economic College, “Elena Vacarescu” Secondary School, “Nicolae Kretzulescu” Economic College, “Dante Alighieri” Theoretical High School, and “Elena Cuza” National College. The subjects taught by the students include Entrepreneurial Education (10th grade), Accounting (9th and 10th grade), Social Education (8th grade), Informatics, and ICT (5th, 6th, 7th, 8th grade), and some of the students are employed as teachers in some educational institutions. The students completed their teaching practice in 2023, at a time when classes were once again being held on campus, following a long period (2020–2022) during which teaching had taken place predominantly online. This context provides a better understanding of the adaptation to post-pandemic realities, as students were required to update their teaching methods. Also, in the second level of psycho-pedagogical training, the students transition to a new training practicum, in which they have to prepare their teaching materials, taking into account that they can now teach up to and including 12th grade. In terms of the age of the students participating in the study, taking into account that the survey was conducted among second-year Master’s students, most students who participated are aged between 21 and 25 years (70 students, a percentage of 99%), while another respondent is older than 35 years.

3.3. Hypothesis

In order to test the influence of respondents’ level of participation in various educational activities on their perception of the volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity of the educational environment we tested the following hypothesis:

H1: 

There is a significant difference in the perceived volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity of the educational system according to the degree of participation of teachers/future teachers in activities related to the educational environment.

Thus, to verify the hypothesis, we established the following two variables: the independent variable (Frequency_of_participation) and the dependent variable (Educational_environmental_volatility). The respondents who took part in the research were divided into three categories, according to the frequency of participation in educational activities: 1—I do not participate at all; 2—I rarely participate; 3—I participate frequently (Figure 1).

The mode of perception of the volatility of the educational environment was measured on a Likert scale from 1 to 5. The analyzed statement was “The educational environment is highly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA—rapid and unpredictable changes)” (Figure 1). The interpretation of the Likert scale used is as follows: 1—total disagreement (respondents consider that the educational environment in which they work is predictable and stable, and is not affected at all by changes that may cause misunderstandings/uncertainties); 2—partial disagreement (respondents consider that the educational environment is affected by certain changes, but these are not destabilizing and do not have a significant negative impact); 3—neither agree nor disagree (respondents admit that there are certain changes in the educational environment, but they have a neutral attitude towards the effects created by them); 4—partial agreement (respondents consider that various rapid changes specific to the VUCA world are taking place in the educational system, but perhaps not at the level of all four dimensions or constantly); and 5—total agreement (respondents believe that the educational environment is strongly affected by the lack of clarity, volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity that are defining characteristics of the VUCA world). The variable referring to the educational activities analyzed refers to the respondents’ participation in various internships, training courses, workshops, scientific seminars, educational projects, and exchanges of experience aimed at improving teaching activities or supporting the development of pedagogical skills and understanding of phenomena related to the educational system.

As can be seen in Figure 1, the number of respondents who did not participate at all in activities related to the educational environment was very low (n = 4). For methodological reasons, to avoid influencing the validity of the statistical interpretation of the results, these respondents were included in the same category as those who stated that they participated rarely (n = 26). Thus, the analysis was ultimately conducted at the level of two groups: respondents who did not participate in educational activities or participated rarely (coded as group 2, n = 30), and respondents involved in educational activities (coded as group 3, n = 40). The results were tested and interpreted using IBM SPSS Statistics software, Version 26.

Also, within the quantitative research, we paid special attention to the perception of the influence of ambiguity in the preparation of teaching materials, as well as the effects of uncertainty in the educational system on the efficiency of the teaching process. At the same time, we analyzed the teaching methods used in class in order to improve teaching activities, and in the last part of the research, we investigated the skills a teacher needs to manage events specific to the VUCA world.

4. Results and Discussion

In order to test hypothesis H1, the first step was to examine how the data is distributed. The Kolmogorov–Smirnov and Shapiro–Wilk tests were thus applied (

Table 4. Tests of normality.

	Frequency_of_Participation	Kolmogorov–Smirnov a			Shapiro–Wilk
		Statistic	df	Sig.	Statistic	df	Sig.
Educational_environmental_volatility	2	0.20	30	0.00	0.85	30	0.00
	3	0.47	41	0.00	0.50	41	0.00

^a Lilliefors Significance Correction.

). The Kolmogorov–Smirnov test studies the distribution of the data, as it is a method that is based on the maximum difference between the cumulative progressive normal distribution and the observed distribution [46,47]. The Shapiro–Wilk test is also used to examine whether the survey data are normally distributed. It means that the ratio of two estimates of the variance of the normal distribution is based on a sample of n observations [46,48].

As it can be seen in Table 4, the significance level is less than 0.05 (Sig. = 0.00 → Sig < α → Sig < 0.05), which means that there are important differences between the two analyzed groups (data are not normally distributed), concluding that the perception of volatility and uncertainty of the educational environment is not normal both for people who participate frequently in educational activities and for those who participate rarely or not at all. Since the data do not show a normal distribution, the parametric t-test cannot be applied, and it is necessary to conduct a non-parametric test, which does not show a normal distribution: the Mann–Whitney test.

The main objective of this test is to verify the difference between two independent samples in the form of a variable that takes values in rank [49] (

Table 5. Mean ranks for the two groups analyzed.

Ranks
	Frequency_of_participation	N	Mean Rank	Sum of Ranks
Educational_environmental_volatility	2	30	25.43	736.00
	3	41	43.73	1793.00
	Total	71

Source: authors’ own contribution.

).

The results of the Mann–Whitney test for the two groups analyzed showed a significant difference in terms of the perception of volatility in the educational environment α (0.00 < 0.05) (

Table 6. Mann–Whitney test for the two groups analyzed.

Test Statistics a
	Educational_environmental_volatility
Mann–Whitney U	298.00
Wilcoxon W	763.00
Z	−4.20
Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed)	0.00

^a Grouping variable: @Frequency_of_participation.

). In this case, the null hypothesis is rejected and the alternative hypothesis (H₁) is accepted. Also, the value of U = 298.00 (Table 6), as well as the difference between the mean of the first group (25.43) and the third group (43.73), indicates a significant separation of the distributions of the analyzed groups (Table 5). Thus, students who take part in certain activities that are related to the educational environment perceive the educational system as more volatile, full of changes and unexpected events, compared to those who rarely participate in educational activities or those who do not participate at all.

Based on the analysis of all the obtained results, it can be concluded that the more a person interacts with educational specialists and participates in different educational projects and teaching activities, the greater their awareness of changes in educational policies, rapid and sometimes insufficiently detailed changes in the structure of curricula (for example, in many economic subjects, school curricula are outdated, and textbooks are in line with them, so they are still not in line with today’s reality—for example, in the subject of Entrepreneurship Education, a common subject for all profiles, which is studied in 10th grade, the school curriculum is from before 2010), as well as immediate adaptation to new technological requirements without an adequate training framework for teachers (as was the case during the pandemic, when many teachers had to teach online without having the necessary training), etc. Participation in such activities can also give learners (teachers) access to new teaching and assessment methods (which helps them to better analyze the unpredictability of the educational environment). Thus, the lack of direct exposure to the frequent and rapid changes taking place in the educational system may make teachers/future teachers less aware of the impact of VUCA factors on the educational environment.

Also, the lack of predictability, outdated curricula, the complexity of educational processes, and the approach of artificial intelligence elements, call for the need to develop clear teaching strategies for successfully navigating a context marked by ambiguity and uncertainty. Moreover, the answers provided by students to the following items confirm these hypotheses. Respondents were asked to express their agreement or disagreement with the link between the lack of information in the educational system and the preparation of teaching materials and the effectiveness of the teaching process. As can be seen from Figure 2, most students (47 students, 66.20%) consider that the ambiguity and lack of clear guidelines in the educational system make the work of teachers very difficult, especially the process of preparing supporting documents for students. The category with the second-highest number of responses was variant four, in which the study participants expressed partial agreement with the sentence under analysis (14 students, 19.72%) (Figure 2). Regarding the effectiveness of the teaching process, 48 out of 71 respondents (67.61%) expressed full agreement, considering that the uncertainty in the educational system caused by frequent changes significantly affects the quality of teaching.

Teachers’ perceptions of VUCA are crucial to their educational decisions and practices [7,50]. The high percentage of survey participants who agreed that the uncertainty present in the education system creates difficulties for teachers in preparing lessons underlines the need for rigorous and more clearly structured educational policies. Also, the opinion of the respondents emphasizes the vulnerabilities of the educational environment, indicating the need for better transparency and improved communication between teachers and state institutions in order to enhance the quality of learning and teaching. This perception of the respondents is also amplified by the following item: the majority of the students of level II of psycho-pedagogical program consider that the frequent changes in the educational system represent a factor that affects the efficiency of the teaching process, creating a volatile and complex working environment. An education system characterized by permanent and rapid changes, which are often difficult to understand, can lead to demotivation and overload among both teachers and students. For example, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has forced everyone (students and teachers) to make a forced transition from traditional (on-site) teaching to online teaching, sometimes without any prior preparation. Initially, the shift from face-to-face to online teaching was deemed unacceptable by both students and academics for reasons relating to technical barriers, resistance to change, little knowledge of the use of new technologies, and the policies of universities and governing bodies [51,52,53,54].

Although online teaching highlighted the many advantages of digitization, it also highlighted the disappointment of teachers who had to update, sometimes completely, their teaching materials in a very short time. At the same time, online teaching has also led to multiple challenges in terms of keeping students’ attention and involving them in the teaching process. The main types of challenges encountered in online teaching were social, pedagogical, and technological, with the latter being the most common (encompassing a lack of necessary electronic devices, especially in rural areas; unreliable internet connections; etc.) [55,56]. Also, if the way in which students’ knowledge is assessed and tested keeps changing, there may be difficulties for teachers when it comes to harmonizing lessons with educational objectives, and for students who may be confused about the criteria they have to meet.

Concerning teaching methods, the majority of respondents believe that they should adapt to new technological trends and developments: 58 of the survey participants agreed fully (81.69%), while 10 respondents partially agreed (14.08%) (Figure 3). In addition, 51 of the students (71.83%) who took part in the research felt that the teaching methods now used in the classroom should also include elements of interdisciplinarity in order to effectively deal with the ambiguity and uncertainty created by the VUCA world.

The obtained results demonstrate the importance of digitization in education, with both current and future teachers expressing the view that teaching methods need to be updated in relation to new technological trends in order to meet students’ expectations. At the same time, in order to create an innovative, interactive educational process geared towards combining theoretical and practical knowledge, the rapid development of technology calls for a change in traditional approaches. A new vision cannot be established in an organization by decree or by exercising power, but rather through the enthusiastic and dedicated commitment of the people who work within it in relation to the current times [57]. While, in the business environment, the implementation of digital solutions and elements based on artificial intelligence has become indispensable in order to respond effectively to all unexpected events [58,59,60], the same is happening in the educational environment. Moreover, in a world strongly marked by ambiguity and volatility, technology is not only a tool for modernizing the educational process, but an essential component that allows us to respond to the dynamics of a complex environment by incorporating digital resources. The VUCA world, an environment in which change is unpredictable and inevitable, highlights the need for an education system in which traditional teaching methods are no longer sufficient to ensure the effectiveness of the teaching process. In this sense, combining elements of interdisciplinarity with the integration of modern technologies based on artificial intelligence can reduce uncertainty and ambiguity by preparing students to analyze a case study/concrete situation from multiple perspectives. Also, the results obtained for the next item confirm the importance of using technology during teaching. When asked about the most effective pedagogical approaches/teaching methods that can be used by teachers during lessons to introduce new elements or to fix knowledge, the respondents cited digital pedagogical elements such as Mentimeter and Kahoot (53 persons) as their first choice (Figure 4). The students who participated in the research could select, from a predefined list, the top three pedagogical strategies which they considered to be the most effective, or they could express their own opinion. Digital applications contribute to increasing interactivity in lessons, helping to create a stimulating and dynamic learning environment. Through applications that are viewed by students as a game (such as quizzes created on Kahoot), students receive immediate feedback on the exercises they have completed, motivating them to participate more actively in learning activities. It is important to mention that all these digital applications, including those based on artificial intelligence, do not replace the teaching process, but complement it, contributing to the development of particularly important skills among learners, such as rapid decision-making (for example, in Kahoot quizzes, the winners are ranked based on both correct answers and speed), the ability to work in different digital environments, critical analysis, etc.

It is worth mentioning that a large number of participants (37 people) in the study also opted for experiential learning. The Association for Experiential Learning has published a set of principles that contribute to a detailed understanding of the concept: through experiential learning, students are constantly engaged in analyzing, asking questions, investigating and experimenting with different situations, solving problems, and being curious and creative [61,62]. Unlike traditional teaching methods, experiential learning allows for analysis, testing, and the opportunity to learn continuously from real, ambiguous situations specific to the VUCA world, contributing to the development of key competencies in teachers, such as stress management, resilience, critical thinking, and the ability to make quick decisions in conditions of uncertainty.

In today’s educational environment, which is strongly marked by the influence of the VUCA world, teachers need to have different competencies in addition to subject knowledge and pedagogical skills. To this end, respondents were asked to choose, from a predefined list of competencies and skills, the top three competencies that they considered most significant. Respondents were also given the opportunity to express their own opinion by filling in the “Other” option. After centralizing and analyzing the recorded responses, it emerged that the majority of respondents considered that the most important competencies that helped a teacher to successfully manage the situations created by the VUCA world were adaptability (44 respondents), stress management (44 respondents), and creativity (42 respondents) (Figure 5).

It is notable that the top ranked skills and competencies are essential in the VUCA world. The first competence, adaptability, requires teachers to be flexible, able to adapt and adjust their teaching strategies according to the specifics of the classroom, technological developments and curricular changes, turning every challenge into a learning opportunity. Stress management is also a significant competence demonstrating the importance of making informed decisions even in a complex and uncertain educational environment. The ability to quickly analyze potentially challenging situations that could arise in the course of an educational activity and to act rapidly contributes not only to the efficiency of the instructional–educational process, but also to the training of students to adapt to a constantly changing environment. The last competence highlighted by the research participants emphasizes the need to identify interactive and innovative teaching methods in order to transform lessons into relevant and engaging experiences for students. In the VUCA world, creativity is a key skill; thus, the use of diverse pedagogical approaches, including the introduction of digital applications, contributes to the development and preparation of students for integration into a constantly evolving professional environment.

5. Limitations and Further Research

One limitation of this research is the uneven distribution of respondents based on how often they take part in different educational activities, which is why it is necessary to combine the two groups “does not participate at all” and “participates rarely” into one group, which may limit comparative interpretations. In this regard, it is recommended to expand the sample in order to conduct analyses at the level of all three groups, which could lead to more nuanced results. In addition to the frequency of participation in educational activities, other variables could be studied, such as the degree of knowledge of concepts related to the VUCA world and the educational system, attitudes towards digital innovations in the educational environment, etc. Also, future research could include a qualitative component (such as interviews or focus groups) to analyze the opportunities and barriers generated by the VUCA world in the education system.

Regarding the results obtained which related to the use of digital applications in class, even though they showed clear trends for their integration during class, the pedagogical and psychological mechanisms behind these perceptions were not investigated in detail. Thus, future research could also include international, interdisciplinary comparisons in order to gain a broader perspective on how educational systems respond to changes generated by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity.

6. Conclusions

6.1. Final Conclusions

The VUCA world requires a redefinition of educational processes and, implicitly, of teaching methods. The results obtained from research carried out among the second-year students of the psycho-pedagogical module confirm the conclusions of the specialized literature. The majority of the respondents considered it necessary to update teaching methods in order to align them with new modern technologies and to include interdisciplinary approaches in order to respond effectively to the elements of uncertainty created by the VUCA world (Figure 2). Taking into account the digital revolution that has arisen in recent years, the participants also expressed the view that teachers should provide students with innovative solutions during the teaching of new concepts, as well as various modern applications that facilitate the teaching activity (Figure 4). Moreover, various applications based on artificial intelligence have proven to be extremely useful not only in providing personalized learning experiences, but also in assessing performance and verifying the knowledge acquired by students [63]. In this new era, with the help of artificial intelligence and modern educational applications, the role of teachers has changed, requiring them to find different ways to develop the full potential of their students [64]. In an educational system influenced by the dynamics of the VUCA world, teachers become facilitators of adaptive learning, using digital applications and artificial intelligence-based tools to create interactive and stimulating environments for students. Through these activities, students develop skills that are essential in the VUCA world, such as autonomy, resilience, and the ability to navigate complex and difficult-to-interpret information [23]. At the same time, in the context of the VUCA world, in order to ensure the effectiveness of the learning–teaching process, teachers need to develop new skills such as stress management, adaptability, and creativity (Figure 5). This research has also highlighted the positive relationship between the frequency of participation of teachers/future teachers in different training programs, activities or events related to the educational environment and their perception of the volatility of the educational system (Table 4 and Table 5). People who are frequently involved in various educational activities (conferences, training activities, various initiatives in the field of education) have a higher level of awareness of the challenges of the VUCA world, recognizing the need for continuous professional adaptation and improvement. Considering the sudden changes, which are often difficult to understand (as was the case with the coronavirus epidemic, which came as a shock to both students and teachers), it is necessary to quickly adopt coherent educational policies that promote collaboration between all stakeholders involved in the teaching and learning process. Only a flexible approach that encourages the use of teaching methods that develop students’ key competencies will facilitate the creation of an educational system that is prepared to successfully manage internal and external challenges.

6.2. Practical Implications for Educators

Regarding the relevance of this research and its contribution to the field, the present research offers a particularly important perspective, providing the first analysis of the link between the challenges generated by the VUCA world and the competencies that will enable future teachers to adapt to a new and constantly changing educational environment. The novelty of this article is that it also focuses on the teaching methods that teachers need to focus on in order to successfully manage the changes generated by the VUCA world. In this regard, teachers are encouraged to combine traditional teaching methods with interactive, student-centered ones, such as experiential learning, which contributes to the development of the skills that students need in an unpredictable environment. Preparing teachers to navigate in VUCA environments is not only a response to current challenges; it is also a strategic investment in developing a sustainable education system. Various digital applications (such as Kahoot and Mentimeter) or other applications based on artificial intelligence, in addition to contributing to increased motivation among students, offer opportunities for personalizing teaching activities, creating an attractive environment. Considering the rapid pace of change in the education system, it is essential that teachers participate in various activities related to pedagogy in order to better manage changes in the system and uncertainty.