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

Mihaela Minciu (), Cristina Veith (), Razvan Catalin Dobrea and Carmen Nadia Ciocoiu
Additional contact information
Mihaela Minciu: Teacher Training Department, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, 010374 Bucharest, Romania
Cristina Veith: Faculty of Administration and Business, University of Bucharest, 4-12 Regina Elisabeta Boulevard, Sector 3, 030018 Bucharest, Romania
Razvan Catalin Dobrea: Department of Management, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, 010371 Bucharest, Romania
Carmen Nadia Ciocoiu: Department of Management, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, 010371 Bucharest, Romania

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 14, 1-18

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.

Keywords: VUCA; teaching methods; learning process; education system; sustainability in education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/14/6600/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/14/6600/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:14:p:6600-:d:1705355

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().