The article is a multiple case study in three Initial Training in the Teaching of Social Studies and Civic Education of two Costa Rican public universities, where the purposes of the courses in the Civic Education component are described. In order to understand the initial formation and citizenship, we start from critical theories applied to the didactics of social sciences, based on formation models that include school culture and conflict as part of the factors that allow problematizing current citizenships. The methodology is qualitative with an interpretative-descriptive approach, and the analysis of curricular documentary sources (9 course programs) was proposed to study the type of citizenship promoted in initial training. The data analysis was carried out through a comparative matrix, which was triangulated from the data. The results show a mixture of positions on citizenship and its teaching, with an inclination towards liberal and republican discourses. In addition, teaching and evaluation methodologies are traditional. The main conclusion is that citizenship is a dynamic concept that is situated from historiographical visions, and converges between liberal, republican and critical approaches.