Little is known about the way that teachers cope with the formalisation of professional inquiry in New Zealand. Despite its systemic implementation as an accountability-driven initiative to improve the quality of education, there are varied interpretations and enactments of professional inquiry. In this article, we will explore one teacher's interpretation of these variations. Through a narrative lens, we will illuminate personal and contextual challenges that this teacher considered amidst the pressures of accountability. We will explicate how an internal, culturally bound sense of accountability can be juxtaposed alongside an external, policy-linked view of accountability. This juxtaposition illuminates how teachers may make sense of and legitimise the need for teaching accountability. The insights gleaned can aid educational researchers, school leaders and policymakers to better understand how teachers attach purpose and value to external accountability measures.