This article is based on the analysis of citizenship competencies to respond to the demand for integral human development in the humanities. This paper explores the relationship between citizenship training in education and human development necessary for the formation of democratic citizens. The text also presents different controversies that gravitate around the concept of citizenship in the light of various theoretical conceptions and assumes a position that favors its application in educational proposals in an international context. Furthermore, unveiling the sources that generate the conception of the formation of citizens throughout history presupposes analyzing the synergies that characterize the models of citizenship and the educational projection of each educational stage. The importance of reflecting on the rationality of pedagogical decisions comprises an exercise to recognize the challenge implied by the new challenges of our time, from the processes of formation for the exercise of global citizenship. The problem discussed is the confrontation of knowledge, within the framework of integral education, highlighting the limitations of representative democracy. The objective is to raise the importance of the formation of citizenship competencies with a critical look at education for global citizenship, which implies connecting the local and global scale in an integral way, in order to highlight the relevance of an education for world citizenship.