Understanding workplace pedagogic practices is central to identifying ways of developing individuals' vocational practice throughout their working lives. Key to these practices are the reciprocal bases of participation which illuminate relations between the workplace and individual. This paper proposes how these practices manifested themselves in different ways across and within a workplace and identifies their consequences for individuals' learning. The particular workplace was the subject of a year-long study of guided learning in workplace settings. The paper illustrates how local factors shape workplace pedagogic and participatory practices. On the one hand, is how the workplace affords opportunities to participate in the activities and access guidance and support which influencing their learning through work. However, on the other hand is how individuals elect to engage with what the workplace affords. These reciprocal participatory bases assist understanding how learning can proceed throughout working lives and can contribute to a pedagogy for the workplace.