Dr Yuemiao Ma

Thesis title: (Global) Citizenship Education Embedded in Model United Nations Activities - An Ethnographic Case Study of a Secondary School in China

Biography

Background

I finished my PhD in Education in 2026 at Moray House School of Education and Sport at the University of Edinburgh. My PhD research is about (Global) Citizenship Education in Model United Nations (MUN) activities in China. The research originates from my own experience as a MUN participant since my secondary school. I have maintained research interests in citizenship education, global/international education, and qualitative research methods.

Before starting my PhD, I finished MSc in Education (Comparative Education and International Development pathway) at Moray House. For my master's dissertation, I looked at MUN in Scotland in relation to Curriculum for Excellence (the Scottish education policy), through a placement at United Nations House Scotland (UNHS), an Edinburgh-based civil society. Since then, I have continued working at UNHS as an intern, supporting the expansion of MUN activities to a wider range of primary and secondary schools across Scotland. This work aims to make such opportunities more accessible to students who may previously have had limited exposure to extracurricular programmes like MUN. All my work and research related to MUN has led me to become more attentive of how educational initiatives intersect with broader issues of inclusion and participation.

I am a member of: 

  • British Association of International and Comparative Education (BAICE)
  • British Education Research Association (BERA)
  • Academic Network of Global Education and Learning (ANGEL) 

Personal email: yuemiao.ma@gmail.com 

Qualifications

  • PhD in Education, University of Edinburgh, 2026
  • Associate Fellowship of Advance HE, 2024
  • MSc in Education (Comparative Education and International Development), University of Edinburgh
  • BA in Translation and Interpretation, University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Beijing
  • BEcon in Finance (dual degree), University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Beijing

Responsibilities & affiliations

  • Tutor, School of Social and Political Science, 2026
  • Research Assistant, CAHSS College Research Office, 2024-2026
  • Postgraduate Teaching Assistant, Edinburgh Futures Institute, 2023-2026
  • Postgraduate Tutor, MHSES, 2023-2024
  • Coordinator of Model UN project, UN House Scotland, continuing

Undergraduate teaching

  • Understanding Race and Colonialism, SPS, 2026

Postgraduate teaching

  • The Anthropology of Education and Learning, MHSES, 2023-2024
  • PGT dissertation, MHSES, 2023-2024

Research summary

  • (Global) Citizenship Education
  • Model United Nations
  • China studies
  • Anthropology of/in education
  • Qualitative research methods

Project activity

I worked as a Research Assistant at the CAHSS Research Office from 2024-2026, supporting a range of ad hoc research projects across different schools within the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. My contributions have spanned a variety of research and knowledge exchange activities, including:

  • Conducting literature searches based on pre-defined parameters

  • Writing literature reviews/summaries

  • Data collection through interviews, focus groups, surveys

  • Gathering and documenting evidence of research impact, particularly in relation to Policy and Public strands of impact

  • Mapping and identifying research impact pathways

  • Reviewing and cataloguing archival materials

  • Cleaning and formatting datasets for publication in appropriate data repositories, such as Edinburgh DataShare

  • Preparing notes and reports for knowledge exchange/dissemination activities

  • Contributing to the development of public engagement and collaboration plans

Current project grants

"Exploring and Addressing Participation Barriers in School MUN Clubs: A Participatory Action Research Pilot" - Moray Endowment Funding
"Methodology Café" - Student Partnership Agreement
"Postgraduate Tutor Community Café" - Student Experience Grant

Past project grants

"Towards Publication - a research writing support programme for staff and PGRs at Social Justice and Inclusion (SJI) Hub" - funded by Student Partnership Agreement, 2024-25. See blogpost: https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/teaching-matters/towards-publication-supportive-p...

Organiser

  • Academic Network of Global Education and Learning (ANGEL) Conference 2025 Early Career Researcher Day, Berlin (hosted by ANGEL)
  • New Voices in Global Education & Learning Conference 2024, online (hosted by ANGEL)
  • Doctoral Student Symposium 2024 - Beyond the Buzzwords: Interdisciplinarity and Wellbeing, University of Stirling (hosted by Scottish Graduate School of Social Sciences)

Participant

  • How students engage with discourses of (global) citizenship in MUN activities, ANGEL conference, Berlin, Jun 2025

  • Student perspectives of Model United Nations (MUN) in relation to Global Citizenship Education (GCE), Scottish Education Research Association (SERA) Conference, Dundee, Nov 2024

  • Exploring discourses of citizenship through ways of participation in Model UN activities, British Education Research Association (BERA) Conference, Manchester, Sep 2024
  • Global Citizenship Education Embedded in Model United Nations (MUN) activities – A Case Study of a Chinese Secondary School, BAICE Early Career Researchers Conference, online, Aug 2023
  • Citizenship Education in Model United Nations (poster), Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) 2023, Online, Feb 2023
  • Implementing Model United Nations into local contexts: different conceptualisation of Global Citizenship Education, British Association of International and Comparative Education (BAICE) conference, Edinburgh UK, Sep 2022
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