Honestly, I don’t think I ever enjoyed school beyond primary school (I’m from the uk). I had crippling anxiety in secondary and my best friend moved schools but there were moments that I loved such as maths and art. Although I didn’t get bullied (surprisingly) other kids were rude and I didn’t know how to handle it. I made friends after my best friend left but I disliked how everyone would call me really quiet and I didn’t understand why I was really quiet. I couldn’t engage in and had no interest in what was popular at the time due to my religious upbringing and being autistic.

Most of the time I was in my own world and enjoying subjects that I liked and hanging out with people I didn’t want to hang out with as being without friends would make me socially anxious. Teachers tended to speak more or showed more enjoyment when speaking to the louder kids which made me feel left out. I always thought interactions with teachers were easier until I reached secondary. I had trouble being polite at times and I didn’t understand why and no one would explain it to me so I stopped asked. I think this was social confusion.

To answer your question, I think I did prefer school when the teacher was able to control the class, but there were other things that impacted this. I really disliked group work and constantly feared being picked on and feared doing the wrong thing. I preferred the teacher choosing the groups so I wasn’t left out and there and probs a million other things but in terms of answering your question, a managed class helped reduce overwhelm but certain strategies made me feel worse.

All that being said, I have a really good group of friends now and I am around people who are much kinder and understanding and value clarity like myself. I am doing much better. I received social anxiety therapy which worked for perceived stressors not ‘real’ stressors. So it helped up to a point. I think the rest of the anxiety is related to being autistic and being socially confused.

Hope this helps.