[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-591144-105":59,"doc-detail-591144-en":129},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":122,"head_meta":124,"extra_data":126,"updated_unix":128},105,"en","five-freedoms-that-all-math-explorers-should-enjoy","Five Freedoms That All Math Explorers Should Enjoy","","An essay by Francis Su uses a beach story to examine how “freedoms” enable or restrict people’s ability to engage with mathematics. It contrasts a welcoming idea (“open to all”) with real barriers shaped by history, culture, and economics, including exclusion under Jim Crow segregation. Su highlights five central freedoms—knowledge, exploration, understanding, imagination, and welcome—showing how access to information, multiple strategies, and inclusive learning spaces reduce fear and expand opportunities for mathematical growth.",{"@graph":69,"@context":121},[70,84,104],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":35,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/five-freedoms-that-all-math-explorers-should-enjoy/591144/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":98,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":99,"interactionStatistic":100},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/five-freedoms-that-all-math-explorers-should-enjoy/591144.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"McQueen","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":101,"interactionType":102,"userInteractionCount":4},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":103},"ViewAction",{"@type":105,"mainEntity":106},"FAQPage",[107,113,117],{"name":108,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":110},"What is the beach story used to illustrate?","Question",{"text":111,"@type":112},"The beach becomes a metaphor for freedoms central to doing mathematics—some people receive them while others are denied them.","Answer",{"name":114,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":115},"Why does Su say freedom can affect anxiety toward math?",{"text":116,"@type":112},"When freedoms are denied, the resulting lack of access and support contributes to fear and anxiety many people feel toward mathematics.",{"name":118,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":119},"What does the freedom of knowledge mean in mathematics?",{"text":120,"@type":112},"It means having enough knowledge and strategies to recognize multiple ways to approach problems, rather than being limited to a single method.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":123,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":125,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":127,"site_id":62},591144,1792071212,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":130},{"doc_id":127,"user_id":131,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":132,"doc_module":4,"category_id":34,"category_name":35,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":133,"file_id":134,"file_url":135,"file_type":136,"file_size":137,"view_count":4,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":34,"language":138,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":139,"faqs":140,"seo_title":141,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":128,"read_time":142},5909890329169,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_9964176cb1d06d4a9deccf72a44ae3dc","Five Freedoms That All  \nMath Explorers Should Enjoy  \nBy Francis Su  \nI  \nthought I had chosen the right story for the occasion. Assembled before mewas a group of eager Latino and AfricanAmerican children from an impoverished Los Angeles neighborhood. On this Saturday morning, I was serving with a program in  \nwhich volunteers read books to kids. I had selected a delightfully illustrated picture book about going to the beach, and I thought it would be received well. But after reading a few pages in a most spirited voice, I could tell that the kids were not sharing my enthusiasm.  \nIpaused, and asked: “How many of you have ever been to the beach?”  \nTo my surprise—thoughthispartofLAis just 15 miles from the ocean—only one of the eight children raised a hand. Wasn’t going to the beach a quintessentially Californian thing to do?  \nUpon reflection, I realized that in a low-income neighborhood, parents often work multiple jobs to make ends meet, so they may not have the time or the resources to get to the coast. And when an African American friend of mine heard this story, he explained  \nFrancis Su, the Benediktsson-Karwa Professor of Mathematics at Harvey Mudd College and a former president of the Mathematical Association of America, is passionate about teaching and popularizing mathematics. From the Mathematical Association of America, he received the 2013 Haimo Awardfor distinguished teaching and the 2018 Halmos-Ford Award for his writing. This article is excerpted from Mathematics for Human Flourishing by Francis Su, © 2020, with permission from Yale University Press. All rights reserved.  \nhow African American people were systematically excluded from beaches and swimming pools because of Jim Crow segregation, not only in the South but all over the United States, including Los Angeles. I was completely unaware of this.  \nAlas, I had missed important historical, cultural, and economic contexts that made the beach inaccessible to these kids. It made me reflect on how I motivate my students to pursue mathematics. What contexts am I missing that I should be more aware of? What are the primary experiences that have shaped or are shaping them, and do those present obstacles to or opportunities for learning math? What are the unique strengths they bring to mathematical pursuits? And in what ways do mathematical spaces, like beaches, say “Open to all” but still feel restricted?  \nFor me, the beach became a metaphor for various freedoms that are hallmarks of doing mathematics—freedoms delivered to some and denied to others. Just as they should be manifest at every beach, the freedoms we’ll discuss should be present in every mathematical space. They are part ofthe allure of doing mathematics for those fortunate enough to experience math as it should be experienced. Conversely, the denial of those freedoms contributes to the fear and anxiety that many people feel toward math.  \nFreedom is a basic human desire. It is a central idea behind historic human rights movements and a sign of human flourishing. We seek freedom in big ways—think of the Four Freedoms that President Franklin D. Roosevelt said all people should have: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. We also seek freedom in small ways that can feel just as important, such as freedom with our time or freedom to make our own decisions.  \nILLUSTRAT IONS BY JOHN JAY CABUAY  \nAMERICAN EDUCATOR | SPRING 2022 33  \nI want to highlight five freedoms that are central to doing mathematics: the freedom of knowledge, the freedom to explore, the freedom of understanding , the freedom to imagine, and the freedom ofwelcome. As a math explorer, you should be aware of  \nthese freedoms so that you can claim them for yourself  \nand aspire to fulfill them for everyone you encounter.  \nThe Freedom of Knowledge  \nThe freedom of knowledge is easy to underestimate, because if you have this freedom, you take it for granted, and if you don’thave it, you are comple","cbCaiiA7k8NGa0sC","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiiA7k8NGa0sC","pdf",472180,"English","# Five Freedoms That All Math Explorers Should Enjoy\n## Freedom of Knowledge\n## Teaching Contexts and Beach Metaphor","[{\"question\":\"What is the beach story used to illustrate?\",\"answer\":\"The beach becomes a metaphor for freedoms central to doing mathematics—some people receive them while others are denied them.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does Su say freedom can affect anxiety toward math?\",\"answer\":\"When freedoms are denied, the resulting lack of access and support contributes to fear and anxiety many people feel toward mathematics.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the freedom of knowledge mean in mathematics?\",\"answer\":\"It means having enough knowledge and strategies to recognize multiple ways to approach problems, rather than being limited to a single method.\"}]","Five Freedoms That All Math Explorers Should Enjoy | PDF",18]