This study examines how the aesthetic is central to a conceptual framework in drama education. The main features of the framework are investigated and referred to as the aesthetic framework. To accompany this framework the study proposes the development of an aesthetic consciousness for teachers working on the new Queensland drama syllabus (BOSSSS, 1993). The focus of the study is on how the aesthetic framework manifests itself in classroom practice and how teachers and students describe their experiences of it. Central to the aesthetic framework is the development of a philosophical stance embracing artistic, educational, cultural and critical theories. Through the writings of Szatkowski, O'Neill, Abbs, Willis, Giroux, Foucault, Eco, Lyotard, the study argues for different epistemologies to be explored within the drama curriculum to allow students to undergo other aesthetic experiences. The findings offer teachers a discussion about the success and failures of the strategies developed to implement the framework in the classroom.