A key feature of contemporary times is the high degree of complexity that impacts all spheres and aspects of today’s society, particularly within education. This complexity, deriving from a postdigital world in a polycrisis, causes continuous eventualities and results in these conditions of uncertainty. This contribution reviews the present literature on the issues of the unexpected and uncertainty. From the 13 articles included in the review, an attempt is made to define the terms “uncertainty” and “unexpected” in order to scan the management strategies proposed by various authors in diverse fields, highlighting the correlation between uncertainty, the unexpected, and anxiety. Although this review revealed a lack of a universal definition of the “unexpected” and “uncertainty”, the analysis seems to have revealed some common and essential features in various articles and perspectives on the topic. Suggestions drawn from the analysis prove particularly useful in investigating the implications that uncertainty and the unexpected have in education, especially in training future teachers.

The paper analyzes the impact of uncertainty on teaching and proposes a method to rethink learning design and teaching action management and to renew future teachers’ training paths. Specifically, the research focuses on how learning design can help future teachers deal with the unexpected. We propose design strategies, including modularity, anticipation, hierarchy, redundancy, and deviation formalized in the “Design for the Unexpected in Education” (DUE) method, and we present the results of research conducted on initial teacher education at the University of Macerata. The data analysis of future teachers’ learning designs and post-action reflections shows meaningful changes. In fact, after specific training and introducing the DUE method, future teachers can deal more confidently with the unexpected and achieve planned goals. Future teachers also refer that anxiety is reduced through prior discussion of uncertainty and available regulation strategies.

In most professional fields, being able to effectively communicate to an audience is considered an essential skill for professional advancement. However, the literature shows that anxiety disorders are among the most common mental disorders encountered by public speakers and that public speaking anxiety can negatively impact on the learning experience of undergraduate students. The present study involves university students from two different contexts and countries and examines their public speaking anxiety by cross-referencing data on cognitive self-perceptions, physiological reactions (heart rate), and behavioural aspects (facial expressions and body movements). It also explores the potential of wearable devices and artificial intelligence in data collection and analysis to identify different student profiles according to their levels of stress and public speaking anxiety. Despite various limitations, the cross-analysis showed good consistency and revealed interesting differences between the two samples, including stress-related clusters and emotional states. The data obtained encourage further research into the variables associated with public speaking and oratory skills. In addition, future developments of this study aim to further explore the potential contribution of these tools in assisting teachers in designing effective personalised training, as well as sharing and discussing data with students to promote awareness of their weaknesses and strengths.