This article considers the theoretical principles of children and students' national awareness formation in the Ukrainian pedagogy of Galicia in the period 1848-1918. It defines two stages in this process: ethno-linguistic (1848-1904) and ethno-national (1905-1918). The later nineteenth century was marked by an emphasis on patriotism, the national ideal and the national character. Educators viewed patriotism as fostering love for the native people and the 'mother tongue'. In the period 1905-1918 the Ukrainian national idea as an aspiration for national independence became the basis of education: the purpose of education was to instil national awareness among young people, which would be manifested in command of the language and acceptance of the entire ethnic community; a knowledge of its material and spiritual culture in the past and the present; an awareness of oneself; and an understanding of the role of the national community in global historical processes.