We have identified the appropriation of theoretical foundations and philosophical principles of social poetics in taking care of/educating people. The content analysis technique has been applied to 19 studies (abstracts and text) which also used this method, and which were carried out between 1997 and 2006 by Brazilian nurses and professors. This study defends that the activity of taking care/educating is articulated because it is through this activity that people's knowledge, whether they are professionals or not, is questioned when they take part in a research group, a social poetics analytical device. So, each one learns from the other(s). Social poetics adheres to the nature of nursing because taking care of/educating is to help people to identify their human being potential for growth and to fortify themselves as such. In the results we point out category/concepts about: caring in nursing under the aesthetical perspective; evaluation of the educational process; humility in learning. It is concluded that when considering taking care of/educating physical, intellectual, and spiritual dimensions, social poetics establishes a bridge to the political ecology of the spirit, consolidating solidarity among human beings.
Nursing; Education; Research