Costa Principal Ben Dale receives doctoral degree in education

By Alec Lautanen
Executive Opinion Editor

Mira Costa Principal Ben Dale recently completed his doctoral degree in education, becoming Dr. Benjamin Dale.

Dale worked on the degree for four years at Cal State Long Beach and was granted his diploma last Thursday, May 17.

“You’re in it to become a transformative leader and to be an educational researcher, to be a leader in your field,” Dale said. “My doctorate had really transformed me as a school leader.”

Dale holds his new doctorate in education, a diploma he’s been working towards for three years at California State University, Long Beach. Although he originally started the path as a means to become a more competitive principal applicant, that reasoning quickly changed as he was selected as Mira Costa principal mid-way through.

“I had grown so much more beyond my original intent, which was career based,” Dale said. “As I was in the program, it evolved to a desire to be an educational researcher and to understand educational theory and to be more well-versed in my field.”

Dale completed the program under the direction of Dr. James Scott of CSU Long Beach’s department of education. During the process, Dale held a strong
relationship with his teacher and was continually reinforced in his decision to pursue his degree.

“Luckily I had a very good advisor and when I was hired here it hit the internet the night before it was announced publically,” Dale said. “My professor Dr. James Scott called me and said ‘don’t even think about dropping out of the program.”

Throughout his current tenure as Mira Costa principal, Dale continued with his doctoral programs, taking weekday classes and simultaneously writing multi-page papers in addition to his responsibilities as a Costa administrator.

“I did all of my work at night,” Dale said. “It’s not difficult for me to express myself in writing. I did all my exercising and reading after my kids went to bed.”

As far as new improvements at Mira Costa, Dale feels the process will help him take a more holistic and informed approach to problem, and to solve them more thoroughly and logically.

“It gives you a better perspective of educational leadership,” Dale said. “When there’s a challenge on the campus, I don’t just see it for what it is. My involvement in anything will have this ‘why?’ outcome. Being in a doctoral program, it changes your framework, your vision. You see things based on what you’ve read and researched.”