Rachel Kessel
Faculty of Law
Merging theory with practice to navigate the ever changing legal landscape
Rachel creates a welcoming space where every student feels confident participating.
What are you doing differently in your field that you believe is driving real change?
I bring legal education to life by combining hands-on experience with approachable, collaborative problem-solving. By merging theory with practice, I hope students develop the confidence to navigate our ever changing legal landscape.
How do you help students build confidence, not just knowledge?
I try to create a welcoming space where every student feels confident participating. Collaboration, friendship, and hands-on learning are key, so students engage rather than just absorb knowledge. Instead of just teaching answers, I reverse engineer by helping them identify problems first, encouraging them to think critically, challenge assumptions, and share their ideas for innovative solutions.
What do you hope your students take away from their time with you? Is there a student moment you’ll never forget, and why?
I want my students to trust their own legal voices and feel confident in their potential to drive change. A classic moment I'll never forget is when I challenged small groups of students to read the full text of a case, and then compare it to the possibly inaccurate summaries AI might make. But I also asked these teams to embrace any AI design tool they could find to create a compelling slide show to teach their case to the rest of the class. When I went around the room and I asked one particular group what tool they were using and they replied "we're just sitting and thinking about the case." I laughed and proudly told the whole class that "this was genius! Using your own brains and thinking deeply about a case is the greatest tool on earth that AI will never replace!"
Going from student to teacher has been a full-circle experience, as I’m constantly learning from the thousands of unique perspectives my students bring. ”
What legacy or ripple effect do you hope to leave behind?
Confidence in law isn’t just about mastering precedent - it’s about knowing when to challenge it. My students learn to trust their own legal voices, think critically, and push boundaries where change is needed. Through real-world challenges, embracing AI-driven tools, and collaborating, students can gain the skills and courage to reshape legal practice.
What would surprise your younger self most about what you do now?
Going from student to teacher has been a full-circle experience, as I’m constantly learning from the thousands of unique perspectives my students bring. It’s also surreal to see how fast education is evolving, as my younger self could never have imagined Google, let alone AI and the incredible advancements ahead. Smart glasses with real-time translation, AI-driven learning, digital twins, holograms in courtrooms, and blockchain credentials are making education more immersive, transparent and accessible.
Was there a turning point that brought you to becoming an educator, or did you always know you'd end up here?
I’ve always valued education, knowing my grandparents never had the same opportunities. They wanted me to be a lawyer, but my real passion is helping others learn and grow. Education opens doors, and when my students become lawyers, they have the power to make a real impact on their communities.
How do you tailor your teaching approach to engage and inspire today's students?
My teaching is warm, open, and non-judgmental, creating a space where they can question, debate, and explore new concepts. I believe relationships are key to learning and that’s why I prioritise knowing my students and fostering meaningful discussion.
What does being a teacher allow you to do that nothing else can? Was there a moment you realised that your work as an educator goes beyond what happens in the classroom?
Teaching allows me to be more than just an ideas person - I can be a 'pracademic' where I can achieve practical outcomes through an academic lens. I was really excited to learn recently that a digital legal assistance clinic that was created during the 'Global Legal Hackathon' that I helped bring to Monash seven years ago, is still up and running. I was so happy to realise that countless people in our community can now access justice, simply because an educational initiative provided the space to think, build and transform an incredible idea into a concrete reality.