This research project aims to address the critical gap in our understanding on the role of role models on teachers' informal professional learning. While teacher’s professional learning through formal learning activities is well-documented, research on teachers’ informal learning is more limited. Actors in a teacher’s network are known to be significant sources of informal professional learning, Yet, despite claims in literature, there is a lack of theory around how role models can influence this informal learning. This need for theorization is even more needed for teachers with ethnic-culturally diverse backgrounds, as existing obstacles in formal learning processes call for informal processes. Existing theoretical and methodological shortcomings in the available literature prevent an in-depth understanding of the role of role models on teachers’ informal professional learning, especially for ethnic-culturally diverse teachers. From a theoretical point of view, this project will lead to much-needed theorization on role modelling in a professional context and create an integrated theoretical framework on how and why role models can play a role in teacher’s informal professional learning. This framework will take actors' ethnic-cultural background into account. From a methodological point of view, this project will lead to an innovative methodological design that allows for the use of social network techniques in research on role modelling in the professional context.