Professor Michelle Picard

​​​Interview with Professor Michelle Picard — On Teaching, Technology and a Touch of Dutch

Professor Michelle Picard brings a global mindset to South Australia, shaped by years of working across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. With Dutch roots and a strong appreciation for Dutch pragmatism, she approaches education, innovation and technology with both curiosity and common sense. At Flinders University, Michelle works at the intersection of learning, ethics and emerging technology — always with a focus on keeping people, not platforms, at the centre.

— Interview by Vasco Bontje, DutchSA

You’ve lived and worked in Australia, South Africa, the UAE, Oman and Singapore. How have these international experiences shaped your approach to leading learning and teaching at Flinders? And what lessons are most relevant for South Australia?
Working across cultures teaches you one very clear truth: there’s no such thing as a ‘standard’ student. Every class brings a mix of life stories, expectations and motivations. If you walk in with stereotypes about nationalities or cultures, you will get it wrong. Listening first is the real skill. What does carry across borders is that all students want to be heard. They want to feel they belong. They want the chance to grow into who they hope to become. Whether in Adelaide, Oman or Singapore, that part never changes.

How does that translate into the South Australian context?
We sometimes forget how small and sheltered SA can feel. Even academics — people who live and breathe research — can slip into a bit of navel-gazing. It’s easy to become comfortable and assume the way we teach, or the way things are done locally, is the only way. One of my roles has been to gently lift people’s heads and remind them to look outward. Our students come from a world that’s far broader than our own habits, and if we don’t model that openness ourselves, how can we expect it from them?

With your interest in emerging tech, do you think the risks or opportunities are understood in higher education?
I think we have both extremes. On the one hand, there are people still hoping that all these new technologies are going to go away and stop. On the other extreme, there are people thinking it’s the shiny new thing that’s going to fix all the problems, and it can happen overnight. To actually implement generative AI, you’ve got to go about things in a different way. You can’t assume you can learn a technology and it’s finished. It’s constantly changing and updating, and even that is quite challenging. You’ve also got to change the way of doing. Yes, you can use AI for daily tasks to make yourself more efficient — that’s simple. But if you’re using it more broadly for learning and teaching or externally facing for students or staff, then you need much more systematic approaches and processes to embed its use effectively. The problem is that people might have a little bit of knowledge, or they got some knowledge at the beginning, but they don’t realise they constantly need to update and improve that knowledge. And I think we focus a lot on generative AI literacy for students, which is very important, but there needs to be a lot of work in the generative AI literacy of staff — both professional and academic staff.

Are ethics, equality and human connection becoming more important because of AI?
They absolutely are — more than ever, in fact. We’re living in a time where truth itself feels negotiable. Fake news spreads faster than facts, and digital tools can fabricate something that looks real in seconds. In that environment, ethics and critical thinking aren’t ‘nice to have’; they’re essential life skills. Technology isn’t the enemy here, but it can narrow our world if we’re not careful. Social media, personalised feeds and now AI can create echo chambers that reinforce what we already believe. If we don’t teach students how to question, evaluate and reflect, we’re setting them up to be swept along by whatever the algorithm serves next. That’s why human connection has to stay at the centre of education. AI can support learning, but it can’t replace the role of a teacher in helping students make sense of the world. It can’t challenge a bias, encourage a broader perspective, or help someone see beyond their immediate environment. So yes — ethics, equality and meaningful human connection matter even more now. Our responsibility is to show students how to use these tools responsibly, model ethical behaviour ourselves, and create learning environments where they can practise these skills rather than be shielded from them. Because without those foundations, no amount of technology will move us forward.

Going back to less disruptive things, DutchSA works to strengthen ties between South Australia and the Netherlands. What is your connection with Dutch culture or ways of working?
I’m half Dutch, so pragmatism is basically in my DNA. I follow Dutch higher-education practices closely, and what I admire most is their grounded approach to innovation. No lofty speeches — just ‘How do we make this work?’ That resonates deeply with me. My mother always said I had big feet as a child (“flat on the earth” – “plat op de aarde”) — I’d ‘grow into them’. What she meant was: I’m very firmly on the ground. No floating, no fuss. That’s quite Dutch, I think! 🙂

What could South Australians learn from the Dutch?
I think we’ve got to work with what we have in common already — the history, the culture, the backdrop of stability, rethinking, critical thinking and innovation. Where South Australians can learn from the Dutch is in lifting the head above the parapet and thinking beyond Australia. The Netherlands is an easy route into Europe for people in SA. Just like Singapore can be an easy route into Asia, the Netherlands is a way for SA to interact more broadly with Europe. We have a lot in common, and people can really relate to that. Other countries might seem much more foreign or strange, but the Netherlands isn’t — it’s familiar. So making those research connections, innovation connections and business connections is important. It’s a way in which SA can support people to think more broadly and not remain too narrow or navel-gazing. And I think that’s where the Netherlands can really be a gateway into Europe for SA.

If DutchSA built a figurative bridge between SA’s education sector and the Netherlands, what should that bridge look like?
A bridge that encourages free thinking. One that helps people look beyond the local, collaborate more easily and feel confident stepping into a global space. Something that celebrates what both sides already have in common — openness, curiosity, a willingness to innovate — and strengthens it. I’d call it the “Free Thinking Bridge”—a gateway to new ideas and opportunities.

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