This article argues that although there are increasing similarities in priorities across different national education systems, contextual differences raise questions about the replication of sets of change strategies based on particular understandings of the nature of educational change across these different systems. This article begins with an overview of some of the dominant constructions of the management of change in the literature, particularly from Western economically developed democracies. It then outlines the Pakistani educational system to highlight some of the issues raised by the application of these change policies and models to a developing country. This article draws from a research study which explored the views and experiences of school leaders and teachers with regard to the management of a large-scale reform programme at the higher secondary level in Pakistan. The findings of this study illustrate the way in which there is a dissonance between the culture and practices of a specific national educational system and the assumptions embedded in the sets of reform strategies that have been imported from other systems. This article concludes by exploring how change management processes can be reconceptualised in order to be sensitive to the context of education in a developing country.