STRATEGIC DESIGN AND ROLE-PLAYING GAME IN TEACHEREDUCATION: ARTICULATING SUSTAINABLE INNOVATIONPRACTICES IN COMPLEX PUBLIC EDUCATION CONTEXTS

DESIGN ESTRATÉGICO E ROLE-PLAYING GAME NA FORMAÇÃO DE PROFESSORES: ARTICULANDO PRÁTICAS DE INOVAÇÃO SUSTENTÁVEL EM CONTEXTOS COMPLEXOS DE EDUCAÇÃO PÚBLICA

Abstract

 This article examines the role of the Innovation Articulator Teacher
(Professor Articulador de Inovação– PAI, hereafter IAT) in the Municipal Education Network of Porto Alegre, addressing the mismatch between its institutionally defined strategic function and the predominantly technical orientation of existing teacher training models. Grounded in Strategic Design and in the understanding of educational innovation as a sociotechnical process oriented toward sustainability, the study analyzes how innovation is mediated in public education contexts marked by infrastructural fragility, inequality, and institutional instability. Methodologically, the research adopts a qualitative participa tory action research approach, structured through triangulation involving docu
ment analysis, reflexive field records, questionnaires, Futures Wheel activities, and Role-Playing Game (RPG)sessions as a sociotechnical prototyping device. Reflexive thematic analysis identifies four interconnected themes: ambiguous professional identity, strategic translation of technology, institutional political agency, and ontological security supported by peer networks. The study de velops a situated theoretical–practical framework of eleven Strategic Design attitudes. It contributes by framing educational innovation as sociotechnical
mediation and by offering an analytical and formative instrument to support the development of collaborative and context-sensitive educational ecosystems within broader transitions toward systemic sustainability.