The GDR's pedagogical congresses were an important format for specialised political debate, and thus also a central instrument for the GDR’s education sector legislative force. Similar congresses were held for other scientific disciplines, such as philosophy, sociology, history, and others. The 1st to 4th Pedagogical Congresses took place before the founding of the GDR, were held annually and organised by the Central Administration for Public Education set up by the Soviet Military Administration in Germany (Sowjetische Militäradministration in Deutschland, SMAD). After the founding of the state on January 1, 1950, a total of five further congresses (5th in 1956, 6th in 1961, 7th in 1970, 8th in 1978, and finally 9th in 1989) – no longer held annually, but at much longer intervals – were organised by the newly formed Ministry for Education (Volksbildungsministerium, MfV) with the involvement of various commissions of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (Zentralkomittee der Sozialistischen Einheitspartei Deutschland, CC of SED). Most of those invited were representatives of the various specialist political departments of the MfV and the CC of SED, scientists from the largest non-university institutions for scientific pedagogy (see also leading pedagogical institutions ), but also from universities and colleges, as well as representatives from educational practice, such as teachers, educators, head teachers and school officials. In terms of content, the focus of the debate was on current specialist political issues. The programmes reveal various education policy and pedagogical objectives, such as guidelines for teacher training, youth policy, improving administrative work, theoretical and practical orientation towards Soviet pedagogy (see also Soviet pedagogy) or the development and implementation of polytechnical education (see also polytechnical education).

The congress programme consisted of lectures and presentations as well as working groups and round table discussions. The work results were usually discussions, reports and, above all, resolutions with further directives for specialised political work. The fact that the educational congresses were an important instrument of regulatory policy becomes clear through the specifications for the substantive discussions by the CC or the MfV, which mostly related to the subsequent five-year plans and realpolitik problems, and by the sometimes intensive planning, substantive preparation and organisation of the congresses in terms of procedure, speeches and composition of participating guests. A particularly impressive example of this is the 9th and last pedagogical congress from 12 to 16 June 1989, in the preparation of which a directive participation script and time schedule was developed, in which even the time and duration of the applause were planned (Kaack 1993, p. 91; see also files on the IX. pedagogical congress at the Federal Archive, Bundesarchiv, 1989).