The Contemporary Schools as Game Changers in a VUCA World

Rene C. Barola,MAM

In the middle of the existing VUCA world, the need to arm and prepare future-ready

graduates in our current society is now a major concern of educators and educational

institutions. Admittedly, the world of education is constantly changing at a rapid pace,

learning environments are now more than ever volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous.

Learners and educators are baffled and faced with multi –technology that can be used

positively for teaching and learning that could lead to better lives of the people and the

general public. VUCA pictures out the conditions under schools or educational institutions

operate in the world today. As there is no predictability for every issue that may arise, it

becomes necessary to schools to plan for any issue that may arise.

Contemporary schools are game changers in our VUCA world. How can this be done

by schools? How can educators and educational institutions prepare learners at all levels for

an unpredictable future? Educators and educational institutions must prepare their students

to embrace changing educational landscape in order to arrive at the ideal attributes of

learners and outcomes expected by the society. Schools must have an updated vision and

every now and then revisited to ensure that it is not out dated. By doing this, it can affirm that

the school is still meaningful to the society and can forge internal and external identity and

effectiveness. Schools need also to understand interconnections with its diverse stakeholders by

being relevantly and timely transparent. Schools must be reflective on the context of its existence

and operation. Schools need to think and plan meta-strategically. Start from the result and work
backwards. Harmonize skills. Embrace and exploit behaviors and reactions. Transform anxiety and

resistance into productive energy. Simplicity or clarity must also be emphasized in each school.

Focus on what counts and what it's really about. Trust, transparent connections and processes.

Apply energy and force exactly where they will be most effective. Schools must be adaptable or

flexible. Schools must promote a consistent culture for making decisions and accounting for

mistakes. Interact transparently with objections. Facilitate innovation and build up resilience.

To concretize this, the occurrence of pandemic disease now which is the COVID 19

disrupted the operation of most schools in the world. Learners are not able to attend school at

regular schedule. It is then a must that flexibility must be exercised in providing uninterrupted

accessible education to diverse learners at all levels. To add, volatility is commonly understood

as the ease and speed in which a situation can change in a VUCA world. With this, the methods

of teaching as well as those for solving problems alter rapidly. Therefore, teachers and

learners or the school as a whole need to be given an appropriate environment equipped with

the necessary materials and technology for teaching and learning, be given all needed support

to teach for effectiveness, and be made comfortable. Tools and technology must be created,

provided and used to nurture learning environments, learners and educators.

Another is uncertainty which can be elaborated as the lack of knowledge that

surrounds unforeseen events. The problem of uncertainty of the best methods to adopt in

the 21st century world also exists. The teachers’ method of teaching must therefore reflect

the balance between teaching skills ,values and knowledge that is necessary to educate,

inspire students and make them functional members of the society.

To conclude, VUCA world must propel each educator and educational institution to seek
new orientations, horizons, opportunities and take a fresh approach to education of the learners.

Of course this must be contextualized in the locality where the school is situated. This will be able

to generate and guarantee positive and beneficial results in changed circumstances. The VUCA

world challenges every school to find its own way of providing relevant, meaningful, liberating,

and market-driven education. The VUCA world calls for innovative strategies, technologies and

processes that can be used to cope in any given educational situation. If treated properly, the

VUCA world can be an opportunity for educators, educational institutions and the learners

which are the primary clientele of schools in order for them to learn and develop effective

agile and flexible strategies. Positively, VUCA is a way of assessing and providing for the

changeability of educational situations and events in the world where schools prevails which

are completely unpredictable.