Teacher agency in including students with visual impairment in physical education in Nepal

Background: Physical education (PE), as a prominent school subject, relies on teachers’ agency to foster meaningful participation of all students, including those with visual impairment (VI). It depends largely on how PE teachers design, adapt, and mediate learning activities to address students’ diverse needs. Little is known about how teacher agency is enacted or constrained in including students with VI in PE in Nepali integrated schools.Purpose: This article explores how PE teachers in integrated schools in Nepal exercise agency in including students with VI. It examines the conditions that enable or constrain teacher agency and how these contradictions shape pedagogical practices intended to support inclusion in integrated PE settings.Method: A qualitative research design was employed. Eight PE teachers were purposively selected from three integrated schools in Nepal. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews. All the interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis informed by the ecological model of teacher agency.Findings: Guided by the ecological framework of teacher agency, comprising the iterational, practical-evaluative, and projective dimensions, three interconnected themes were constructed: (a) ableist legacies and the framing of training, (b) resource limitations and structural constraints, and (c) deficit expectations and preference for segregation. The iterational dimension revealed that exclusionary practices were rooted in teachers’ past experiences and reinforced through entrenched beliefs about disability and the purpose of PE. The practical-evaluative dimension reflected that teachers’ current decisions were primarily shaped by structural, institutional, and material constraints. The projective dimension indicated that future-oriented aspirations were constrained by deficit-based expectations, limiting teachers’ capacity to envision inclusive possibilities.Conclusion: Teacher agency in including students with VI in PE is profoundly constrained by systemic and institutional factors. Exclusion emerges not merely from individual intentions but from broader structural forces shaping teachers’ agency over time. These findings raise critical questions about the effectiveness of integrated schools operating with inadequate support systems. The study highlights an urgent need for interventions across all three dimensions of teacher agency by challenging ableist legacies, strengthening structural and curricular supports, and cultivating inclusive professional aspirations.Impact Statement: The study informs teacher education and systemic reforms to strengthen pedagogical practices that support the inclusion of students with VI. It highlights how teachers’ past experiences, present conditions, and future aspirations shape agency in integrated school settings in Nepal.