Education as an institution fulfils the key social functions of promulgation of knowledge and the development of future citizens. Rather than these key functions earning it respect, education and its practitioners are the targets of criticism and what Labaree calls "scorn". This article seeks to progress the work done by Labaree on the origins of education's low status. It uses Douglas's grid-group theory to explore how the low status of education both opens it to criticism and inclines it to the thought styles that further entrench its position on the margins.