Making care visible: hybrid accountability and the ambivalent work of documentation in a Guangzhou kindergarten

This qualitative case study explores how eight teachers in a Guangzhou public kindergarten experienced accountability and demands to make work visible. Semi-structured interviews were examined through reflexive thematic analysis and cross-case comparison. Accountability combined parental expectations, organisational routines, inspection, curriculum reform and professional standards. Documentation linked these demands to everyday work but had mixed effects. Records, photographs and public lessons could support reflection, learning and family communication. They became more performative when used mainly as display or proof, when tasks accumulated, preparation entered personal time and teachers had little discretion. Emotional regulation took different forms, while marked identity conflict centred on one information-rich case. Leadership protection, peer support and clear educational purpose helped teachers sustain child-centred commitments. Purpose, accumulation, timing and discretion therefore shaped the movement from pedagogical documentation to performative evidence. These findings suggest that evaluation should protect teachers’ time and professional judgement while keeping documentation connected to teaching and learning.