Partnership and sector-wide approaches have become common denominators for success in educational development. It is, however, far easier to agree on the rhetoric than to implement the underlying principles. The comparative analysis of Burkina Faso, Ghana and Mozambique highlights how far governments and agencies still have to go in order to develop common understandings and practices in education sector development programmes. Sector-wide approaches must not be understood as a blueprint, but rather as a process with structural boundaries. Their introduction demands a learning mode of all actors involved.